Mother’s Day Wall Art Project

We have just one month to begin coming up with some meaningful plans to celebrate mother’s day this year.

My own sweet mother’s birthday (May 10th) often falls on Mother’s Day. I always make sure that I adequately celebrate both holidays–no rolling the two together. No way.

So today I’m going to show you a mixed media project that is so simple and fun to make. It was actually designed by Angela Anderson for elementary school kids, but I really think it’s quite pretty, and so I decided to make one for Mother’s Day.

It’s cheery, floral, and has a loving endearment; I think she’ll love it.

I started out by covering and 8″ x 10″ canvas board with vintage music paper. You can use a stretched canvas if you’d like.

I glued the paper on with Mod Podge, then folded the paper up onto the back of the canvas board and glued it down with some more MP. 

Then I gave it a coat of watery “Ocean Breeze” craft paint. You want the music to show through, so don’t apply it full strength.

I don’t wait too long for things to dry because it all tends to flatten out in the end, and when it doesn’t, it’s not a big deal because this is a “mixed media” project where you’re applying layers of materials and you actually want to create texture.

Next I randomly applied a tiny block pattern using a new stencil. To achieve this color, I mixed the Ocean Breeze with a little black, creating a dark green-ish gray.

I picked up the stencils I used on sale at Michael’s not too long ago, but this is the first chance I’ve had to use them.

If you want to create texture on your project, but don’t have any stencils, you can use other things like stamps, bubble wrap, or the eraser end of a pencil to create an interesting pattern on your canvas.

Here you can see that I added some pale pink polka dots and then used the tiny block pattern again but with the pale pink and then again with white paint as well, all the while layering as I went.

I also splotched on some slightly darker Ocean Breeze paint around the edges of the canvas and in a few places near the center as well.

I stamped a butterfly in the upper left-hand corner, using regular stamp pad ink. Be sure to apply stamps directly onto your painted surface before you apply a final coat of MP. Stamp pad ink will only smear when applied on top of MP.

Once my canvas was pretty much done, it was time to add the flowers and foliage. The flowers, as you can see are quite simple–a series of graduated circles in various shades of red and aqua scrapbook paper, with black button centers.

I then applied the flowers, stems, and leaves with MP. Almost done!

I printed out a page filled with the sentiment I planned to use: “A mother is like a flower, beautiful and unique,” then cut out each word and glued them all in the upper left hand corner.

Here you see the words glued onto the canvas and outlined with an ultra-fine black Sharpie.

After applying the words, I thought the canvas still needed a little something, so I followed Angela’s lead and applied a few splotches of watery apple red paint to a some areas using a sponge brush.

Here you see the project before I outlined some of the features with an ultra-fine sharpie. I like to give some of the elements greater definition, and the Sharpie accomplishes that.

The final project, with outlining and a protective coat of Mod Podge for protection and a nice finish. I’ll cover the back with some brown craft paper and apply a loop hanger, and she’s all ready for Mother’s Day.

How are you planning to honor your mother this year on Mother’s Day? Sunday brunch? A potted hydrangea? 

Thanks for stopping by–
If you enjoyed this post, subscribe today
and get a FREE copy of my eBook:

Bye for now,