Make Your Own Shabby Chic European Inspired Wall Plaques

Creating artwork on canvas does not mean you have to be an artist. There are many tools and simple shortcuts that can be employed to produce beautiful works of art. A stack of 9 x 12 stretched canvases I had picked up at a yard sale were the perfect base for shabby chic European inspired wall plaques. I used quick and easy paint techniques and a Cricut Expression die cutting machine to craft a set of plaques. The three plaques were a perfect fit for a bare corner in my living room leftover after a new paint job.

My Cricut Expression is a fairly new craft tool for me. I have experimented with cutting a variety of shapes, but I really hadn't made anything thing decorative until I tried this project. This home decor project has become the catalyst for an abundance of ideas that are swimming around in my head just dying to get out. If you do not have a Cricut, you can purchase precut dies at craft stores.

Step 1
Mix off-white or light beige acrylic paint with water to thin it slightly. This will make it quicker and easier to spread and will have a slight transparency on the white canvases. That isn't so important with the first color, but it will shade nicely with the additional colors. Paint the the front and sides of each canvas using a sponge brush.

Step 2
Mix pale yellow acrylic paint with water and apply it over the off-white paint before it dries. Use a 1-inch wide flat bristle brush for this application and allow the paint colors to streak resembling a faint waterfall appearance. Allow the paint to dry. Warning: At this point it will look rather messy and you may think you have made a mistake. Be patient, it will improve.

Step 3
Mix brown acrylic paint with water and apply it over the dried paint. Use a paper towel to rub and remove much of the paint. You will want to work quickly before the brown paint sets up. Don't answer the phone or the door during this step. The brown will give the surface an aged appearance. Rub off more from the center of the canvas, leaving a heavier shading to border around the edges. Experiment with dabbing and pouncing the towel. Each one of the paint applications can be altered according to your own desired tastes. If you don't like what you have done, simply add more paint and start again.

Step 4
I thought the embellishments needed a dark color to give it a true European look, so I used dark brown wallpaper from a sample book. I hand cut the wallpaper to fit the Cricut mat and then cut the designs out on the Cricut. I used the "Home Accents" cartridge and chose "flower 1" for the center of the plaques and "corner 1" for two corners of each plaque. The flowers were cut to 6 inches and the corners to 4 inches.

Step 5
Apply decoupage medium to the surface and sides of the painted canvas. Position the cut designs on the wet canvas as shown in the picture. Apply another layer of decoupage medium over the entire surface again. This will seal the surface.