Easy Christmas Art Idea: Tea Towel Wrapped Canvas

I’m a sucker for anything Anthropologie, so when I saw this wintery tea towel at the end-of-year sale I snagged it for about 70% off the regular price. The colors and shimmer also became the inspiration point for my entire holiday decorating plan, but I digress. I thought about framing it, but realized a FREE solution was under my nose… er, workbench. I had a pile of wrapped canvases (the type you can get at Michaels for cheap with a coupon) and suddenly the simple idea emerged to put the two together.

Tea Towel + Canvas = GLORIOUS DIY ANTHRO ART!

It fits perfectly on my faux mantel, which I’m slowly styling for the holidays this week.

But wait, creative people! You don’t have to use a tea towel. You could use a dish towel, piece of fabric, scarf, vintage hanky, whatever floats your boat! And you can use almost any size too, since canvases range from small to huge. A search for ‘vintage tea towel’ on Etsy uncovered some pretty fabulous prints, but don’t forget your local thrift store or retailers like Crate & Barrel where I spied some fun designs.

Obviously this idea is super easy, but here’s the quick play by play:

1. Iron your cloth. That’s the hardest part. #Ihateironing

2. Place it over the front of the canvas and position as desired. Holding it in place, flip it over so the back of the canvas (wooden frame) is facing up.

3. Pull the fabric taunt by pulling over the side of the frame, and staple across the top. The gold Nate Berkus stapler is optional, unless you want an excuse to buy one, in which case YOU TOTALLY NEED IT.

4. Check the front to make sure the fabric is situated the way you want, and if so, continue stapling the bottom.

5. Fold in one side and staple, repeat on the other, and woo-hoo, DONE! If the bumps in the corners where the fabric bunches a bit bothers you, you can snip away excess fabric. I wanted to keep the towel in tact in case I ever want to use it, though.