Fall Burlap Art

I love quick and easy craft projects.  And, I love crafts that include burlap.  This one is all three.

It’s my fall burlap art.

You may think this project requires a lot of art skills, but I really think it doesn’t.

All you need is a burlap canvas, some craft paint and a few embellishments and a glue gun.  You can do this!

Supplies:

• burlap canvas
• embellishments (faux floral, raffia, nail heads)
• glue gun
• craft paint and paint brushes

Directions:

• using a pencil, draw free-hand or copy an outline of a pumpkin on to the canvas
• fill in the outline with various colors of orange paint – use sweeping broad strokes to outline the “ridges” of the pumpkin
• use a little brown paint to help define the ridges of the pumpkin — blend your paints together using the same brush for all the colors so the lines don’t come out too harsh  (don’t over think this…just use broad brush strokes in a half-moon motion and add paint as needed)
• add a stem with brown paint.  I used 2 different browns to give the stem a little more depth
• hot glue on the faux floral and raffia 
• add nail heads to the sides of the canvas measuring an equal distance in between 

The beauty of this kind of painting is that you really can’t go wrong.  If the pumpkin is too orange, add some brown or reddish orange.  If it’s too flat looking add more curved strokes of paint with some brown mixed with a darker orange.  Experiment!  The more you mix it up the better it looks!

Hint:  I used about 4 different colors of orange ranging from light orange, pumpkin orange and reddish orange.  I also used 2 different colors of brown.  Use the same brush for each color — let the colors mix and blend.

My first try looked a little flat to me when I was finished:

I wanted it to have more depth, so even after the embellishments were on I decided to add some brown to give it more definition.  

Better, don’t you think?

So, whaddya say?  Do you want to give it a try?  

If you’d like to see more of my fall projects, I hope you’ll visit me at my blog Lilacs & Longhorns.  Last year, I created a pretty Pottery Barn Inspired tablescape, a simple little grapevine wreath pumpkin and some fun faux fall branches just to name a few!    I have more projects in the works, so I hope you’ll come and see what I’m up to!

Thanks so much for reading today.  I hope to see you over at my place.