Thursday, March 31, 2011
I'm baaaack...
for now. With a boring project post. Sorry.
I needed something to do with the big empty wall behind my TV. I saw something online (check out the bottom picture here) that looked just like a giant plain canvas behind a TV, and figured I liked that more than anything else. So I decided to make it. I started watching tutorials on stretching canvas and building the frame, and figured, (you guessed it...) how hard could it be?
Hard. But definitely doable.
First I bought I huge roll of canvas, which kicked my butt into gear. I felt invested looking at that roll sitting there waiting for me do my project.
I started building my frame with 1x2's and then a quarter round on top of that. The purpose of the quarter round is so that the canvas basically doesn't touch frame except on the edge. Pretty clever. Also, very expensive. If I had skipped this step, which I'm not convinced was a real necessity, I could have shaved $25 off the cost. I think that is probably more important for artists, (you know, the people that usually use canvases to paint art, not solid colors)so that the surface of the picture doesn't perform differently around the edges.
That was all the frame building tutorial covered. Which would probably have been fine for 24" picture, but no so much for a 70" picture. I instantly realized I would need to put some supports in. Sadly, I hadn't bought enough wood for that since I was going off the online tutorials directions, so I had to make another trip to the Home Depot.
Incidentally, why is it every time I walk into the store, a prerecorded message comes over the loud speaker about keeping your kids safely buckled in the shopping cart within a minute? It's like someone sees me coming with three kids and pushes the button to tell me to buckle in my kids. I got news for you (well, them). a) I've been around the block (so to speak) with kids and carts and feel like I pretty much have it under control, and b)The straps don't even slow my kids down. In my opinion, they just create a false sense of security, since I am more likely to stand a couple feet away and turn for two seconds and find Jade standing in the top of the cart, the buckles hanging around her ankles.
Anyway...I got enough wood to put a support down the middle and a diagonal at each corner. I mitred each diagonal at a 45 degree angle and nailed them in. Very well. From both directions. That sucker was sturdy.
I then proceeded to start the canvas stretching process. It was hard. I got a blister on my wrist. Not really sure how, but I did. Finally, just before finishing the edges, I set it upright, and to my horror saw...a parallelogram. (I had a picture to show you, but most of my pictures magically went blank. Not deleted, just plain boxes :( ) Anyway, I couldn't figure it out. 45 degree angles and equal distances should have made perfect square corners, but it didn't. I called my dad to lament. Then I decided to take it apart, a pretty heart wrenching decision after all that work, but I knew I wouldn't be completely happy with it not-quite-square. I took each staple out of the canvas. Then I tried to take the supports out. Unfortunately, I had built it a bit too sturdy. I injured my leg and arm taking out the supports. I found a t-square and painstakingly put it back together, with perfect 90 degree corners. The t-square was absolutely imperative to getting this right (with my experience level, anyway...which is none...). For a smaller frame, you could probably get away without it, but due to sheer size on this big guy, a tiny error = a huge difference in the product. It was amazing how such a tiny difference could make such a huge difference in the whole frame. I stretched the canvas again. My hands felt like they were going to fall off from that little task.
Then the hardest task...choosing a paint color. I finally got a sample, which was almost enough, so I painted the parts that showed the best and did the part that would be hidden behind my TV stand last :)
Since I only spent $3 on paint, I won't feel bad when I change my mind and repaint it. I suppose I could change it with the seasons if I felt like it :)
It turned out pretty close to what I imagined. I wish I had done it a few inches wider. It's hard to tell, but comes out about three inches on each side of the TV stand, I would prefer it were more like 5-6". Sadly, that was a logistical problem since the wood came in 6' pieces and I would have had to buy the 10' pieces to go bigger which would mean a lot of wasted wood and money. I do think it adds something to what was a very, very boring wall. too bad the "before" picture is one of the blanks...you'll just have to imagine it. I may add a little decorative something (similar to this, perhaps) to it later...we'll see.
Anyway, here's the takeaway. This project was difficult (for someone who had never done something like this), but doable. And no matter what, don't try to do a 70" frame without a t square. Oh, yeah, and if you work at Home Depot stop pushing that button when I come in.
I needed something to do with the big empty wall behind my TV. I saw something online (check out the bottom picture here) that looked just like a giant plain canvas behind a TV, and figured I liked that more than anything else. So I decided to make it. I started watching tutorials on stretching canvas and building the frame, and figured, (you guessed it...) how hard could it be?
Hard. But definitely doable.
First I bought I huge roll of canvas, which kicked my butt into gear. I felt invested looking at that roll sitting there waiting for me do my project.
I started building my frame with 1x2's and then a quarter round on top of that. The purpose of the quarter round is so that the canvas basically doesn't touch frame except on the edge. Pretty clever. Also, very expensive. If I had skipped this step, which I'm not convinced was a real necessity, I could have shaved $25 off the cost. I think that is probably more important for artists, (you know, the people that usually use canvases to paint art, not solid colors)so that the surface of the picture doesn't perform differently around the edges.
That was all the frame building tutorial covered. Which would probably have been fine for 24" picture, but no so much for a 70" picture. I instantly realized I would need to put some supports in. Sadly, I hadn't bought enough wood for that since I was going off the online tutorials directions, so I had to make another trip to the Home Depot.
Incidentally, why is it every time I walk into the store, a prerecorded message comes over the loud speaker about keeping your kids safely buckled in the shopping cart within a minute? It's like someone sees me coming with three kids and pushes the button to tell me to buckle in my kids. I got news for you (well, them). a) I've been around the block (so to speak) with kids and carts and feel like I pretty much have it under control, and b)The straps don't even slow my kids down. In my opinion, they just create a false sense of security, since I am more likely to stand a couple feet away and turn for two seconds and find Jade standing in the top of the cart, the buckles hanging around her ankles.
Anyway...I got enough wood to put a support down the middle and a diagonal at each corner. I mitred each diagonal at a 45 degree angle and nailed them in. Very well. From both directions. That sucker was sturdy.
I then proceeded to start the canvas stretching process. It was hard. I got a blister on my wrist. Not really sure how, but I did. Finally, just before finishing the edges, I set it upright, and to my horror saw...a parallelogram. (I had a picture to show you, but most of my pictures magically went blank. Not deleted, just plain boxes :( ) Anyway, I couldn't figure it out. 45 degree angles and equal distances should have made perfect square corners, but it didn't. I called my dad to lament. Then I decided to take it apart, a pretty heart wrenching decision after all that work, but I knew I wouldn't be completely happy with it not-quite-square. I took each staple out of the canvas. Then I tried to take the supports out. Unfortunately, I had built it a bit too sturdy. I injured my leg and arm taking out the supports. I found a t-square and painstakingly put it back together, with perfect 90 degree corners. The t-square was absolutely imperative to getting this right (with my experience level, anyway...which is none...). For a smaller frame, you could probably get away without it, but due to sheer size on this big guy, a tiny error = a huge difference in the product. It was amazing how such a tiny difference could make such a huge difference in the whole frame. I stretched the canvas again. My hands felt like they were going to fall off from that little task.
Then the hardest task...choosing a paint color. I finally got a sample, which was almost enough, so I painted the parts that showed the best and did the part that would be hidden behind my TV stand last :)
Since I only spent $3 on paint, I won't feel bad when I change my mind and repaint it. I suppose I could change it with the seasons if I felt like it :)
It turned out pretty close to what I imagined. I wish I had done it a few inches wider. It's hard to tell, but comes out about three inches on each side of the TV stand, I would prefer it were more like 5-6". Sadly, that was a logistical problem since the wood came in 6' pieces and I would have had to buy the 10' pieces to go bigger which would mean a lot of wasted wood and money. I do think it adds something to what was a very, very boring wall. too bad the "before" picture is one of the blanks...you'll just have to imagine it. I may add a little decorative something (similar to this, perhaps) to it later...we'll see.
Anyway, here's the takeaway. This project was difficult (for someone who had never done something like this), but doable. And no matter what, don't try to do a 70" frame without a t square. Oh, yeah, and if you work at Home Depot stop pushing that button when I come in.
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so now we know why we pay through the nose for someone else to put that simple piece of fabric on that simple wooden frame. thank you, karma, for this insight...and thank you ahead of time for stretching my canvas when i need it done.
*note - this was taken from my friend's family blog, not a craft blog, so i will not be posting the web address.
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