How to Make a Christmas Busted Canvas Easily

Have you seen the busted canvas or exploding canvas pins that have gone viral on Pinterest?  A few days ago, I made a busted canvas using recycled Christmas cards, Dollar Tree canvases, cardboard, and some everyday crafting supplies.  Here is a variation on a Christmas busted canvas.

While you still have those Christmas cards out, recycle them and create one of these busted canvases to enjoy for years!

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Christmas Busted Canvas

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Supplies Needed:

• Stretched Canvas
• Chipboard
• X-Acto knife and Metal ruler
• Scissors
• Christmas Card
• Flat Paintbrush
• Matte Mod Podge
• Yellow Ochre Acrylic Paint
• Real Red Acrylic Paint
• Printer
• Small Christmas decorative items

Directions:

Preparing the Canvas

Paint the back of the canvas with acrylic craft paint.  First, paint a base coat of yellow ochre onto the canvas.  Allow the paint to dry between coats.

Paint the backside of the canvas with yellow ochre.

Paint Real Red over the dried Yellow Ochre.

Paint a second coat if necessary.

Then, paint a coat of Real Red on top of the yellow ochre.  The warm yellow ochre helps to balance the rich red hues of the red paint.   A base coat creates a foundation that prevents uneven absorption of the red pigment.  You know what I mean if you’ve ever painted red paint onto a white canvas.  Without that base coat, it will look very streaky.

The Santa Christmas Card 

First, choose your Christmas card, in this case, I chose a Santa card.  Scan the card on your printer.  Then, use your favorite photo editing tool to resize the graphic large enough to cover the canvas front.  Download the resized graphic and print it on regular copy paper.

Notice that I slightly stretched the width to better fit the canvas.  It made the Santa look a little chubbier, which is not a bad thing, right?    

Cut the Chipboard 

Measure and cut the chipboard slightly smaller than the stretched canvas.  Use a metal ruler and an X-Acto knife or mat knife to cut the chipboard.

Paint Mod Podge on the back of the Santa card.

Center the card front on the chipboard.

Apply Mod Podge to the back of the Christmas card graphic.  Then, center the graphic on the chipboard.  Gently press down and smooth out any air bubbles with your fingers.  Lay a heavy book on the card glued to the chipboard and let the Mod Podge dry.

Gluing the Santa Print to the Canvas

Paint a strip of Mod Podge across the top of the canvas.

Paint a strip of Mod Podge across the top of the canvas.

Position the printed Santa on the strip of Mod Podge.

Then, position the printed Santa on the strip of Mod Podge.  You will see bubbles and wrinkles on the printed paper.  Don’t freak out.  Remember, we will cut the canvas.  Then, the center will be rolled back and not visible. Gently press the bubbles toward the canvas frame’s outer edges with your fingertip.  

Continue lifting the paper, painting a strip of glue, and pressing the paper onto it until the picture is completely glued to the canvas.

Gently press out the wrinkles with your fingertip.

Cut the corners at an angle.

Then, wrap the copy paper around the edges of the canvas to the back.  Cut the paper on all sides, leaving enough paper on the back so that the chipboard will cover it.  Cut the corners at an angle.  Wrap one cut angle around the corner edge.  Fold the second angle along the corner edge to make a nice edge.  Then, use the Mod Podge to secure the paper to the sides and the back.

You can see in the picture above that the wrinkles and bubbles are lessened after the Mod Podge is dry.

Cutting the Busted Canvas

Use a serrated knife to cut through the scored lines.

The front after cutting through with serrated knife.

Score the canvas with an X-Acto knife, being sure not to cut completely through the canvas.  Then, cut completely through with a serrated knife.

So, lay the canvas picture side down on a cutting mat and lightly score a starburst pattern from the center out.  I scored four lines, from top to bottom, side to side, and through each cut quarter, creating eight sections.

Then, use the serrated knife to cut through the canvas, following the scored lines. This gives the pieces a jagged edge instead of a precise cut.

Glue the Chipboard Back

Apply glue to the outer edges of the chipboard.

Center on the back of the canvas.

Before gluing the cut sections in place, squeeze Tacky Glue around the outer edges of the chipboard.  Then, position it on the back of the stretched canvas.  I placed a heavy book on top of this for a few minutes while the glue set.

Gluing the Busted Canvas Cuts

After the chipboard back is in place, decide how you want the sections of the busted canvas positioned.  You can roll the canvas sections back and attach the ends to the canvas or apply glue to the back and leave the ends facing forward.  Use both options if you like!  You can see that is exactly what I did.

Use Tacky Glue for this or a glue gun.

Apply glue to the tip of the cut section and adhere to the canvas.

Glue all of the section tips to the canvas.

Decorate the Canvas Edges

After gluing all of the sections in place, add decorative items around the edges.  When you have them as you want them, glue them in place.  A glue gun works well for this, or you can use Tacky Glue.  You’ll have to hold the pieces in place for a minute or so with the Tacky Glue.

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