A few months ago, I made some triangle bunting for my three year old’s bedroom. As I was attempting to explain to my son the aesthetic appeal of home decor, I told him we’d hang a picture of one of Pop’s cows. Case was somewhat confused about the triangles hanging in his room, but once I diverted the conversation to something much more fun, he conceded his elementary understanding of why we decorate our walls.
A cow was a totally appropriate subject for his little bedroom.
That conversation was a few months ago. My three year has periodically reminded me about hanging a picture of one of Pop’s cows in his room ever since.
I asked my father-in-law if he minded if I took some pictures of his dairy cows. With a bit of perplexity, he told me a could take pictures of anything I wanted to on his farm. So I did.
We ended up with a cow enjoying the perfect farm sunset.
In a perfect life, I would print off four 16 by 20 canvases to create a collage on his walls. Then I’d change them out as his (or my) tastes changed. Unfortunately, canvases are no inexpensive commodity.
An inexpensive alternative to a canvas print:
1. Cut a piece of smooth pressed plywood to the desired size of your wall hanging. I had a local professional print shop print me off an 11 by 17 image on card stock. This cost me $1.25.
I ended up trimming the image slightly to match the minor curvature in the wood.
2. I then painted the perimeter and edges of the wood.
3. Use rubber cement to adhere your image to the wood. Why rubber cement? I used rubber cement because I know I can easily peel off the image when I want to change it out. I know it will hold well, though. I have attempted to use double stick tape on another project similar to this, but I had trouble with it holding.
4. Since I had the print shop print me a matte card stock image, I chose to protect it with a clear spray. Using photo paper would likely be a better protector to finger prints and such, but I like the look so much better of matte. Plus, I thought it reflected the look of a canvas print a bit better.
Use this like spray paint. Think THIN layer.
5. We hung the picture using a saw tooth picture hanger. Peter found the center of the wood and gently pounded in the nails on either side of the saw tooth.
Case was pretty excited to finally have one of Pop’s cows hanging in his bedroom. He’s grown rather fond of his triangle bunting too, though. 🙂
(Sources: Courage Sign + Arrow)
(Please note that affiliate links have been used in this post.)
“She’s a very good cow.” says Pop
She made for a good picture. 🙂 And she was a perfect cow for Case.
looks VERY cute, kel!
Thank you Katie! 🙂 Miss you, friend!