DIY Tape Wall Art: Upcycle Old Canvas Painting

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Make your own colorful DIY tape art with this easy way to Upcycle an old canvas painting.

Though I love crafts, I’m not very artistic. I don’t have any drawing or painting skills.

So, when I want to create art for my walls, I have to be creative in other ways. Easy ways.

When I found some beautiful Washi tape in the craft store, I was inspired! Then I created this colorful DIY tape art for my office.

And it didn’t cost much money, either!

Upcycle An Old Canvas Painting

Materials

Directions

Start with a Canvas

To start my project, I found an old canvas “artwork” at a thrift store. It was exactly the size I wanted.

Repurposing an old piece of art from a thrift store can often be much less expensive than buying a new canvas at an art store.

However, sometimes you can find great deals on canvas at your store, or you just don’t want to wait to find the perfect piece at a thrift store. So either way is still going to cost less in the long run.

Here is my reclaimed canvas set up in my garage so I could paint it white. You can also be creative with your background color for your project.

Tape it Up

Once I had a plain background to work on, I just started laying down strips of multi-colored Washi tape.

To start myself off straight, I laid the first strip along the edge of the wood frame under the canvas. ( I could feel the edge of the frame underneath the canvas as I was placing the tape.)

Then I just kept putting Washi tape strips next to each other.

Space Out Your Washi Tape

I left gaps between several rows of tape to allow the white background to show through.

To make sure the gaps between the rows of tape stayed straight, I used an old tip I learned in a high school art class.

First, I stuck a piece of masking tape to my sweater. This causes it to pick up some fibers from the sweater, and makes it less sticky.

Next, I put down several strips of this less-sticky masking tape as a spacer below my last row of washi tape. This gave me a guide to work against when I laid down the next row of washi tape, leaving a gap between rows.

Removing the masking tape when I no longer needed the guide was easy, and didn’t risk damage to my painted canvas.

All because I stuck it on my sweater first.

Finish the Edges

Use another piece of tape on the back of your new artwork to keep all the little tape ends stuck in place.

Use a tape that won’t peel off easily, such as masking tape or duct tape.

DIY Office Art

In just a few easy steps, I now have a colorful piece of inexpensive artwork. I used mine to brighten up a stark white wall in my office.

Who knew there were so many fun crafts to do with tape? I can’t wait to try some other Washi tape crafts.

Also on my office wall is a DIY memo board made from an old picture frame.