My Goodwill Inspiration

My Goodwill Inspiration

I recently decided to brave my local Goodwill and see what goodies they had for me.  While I've dropped off donations several times, I had not yet entered the store.  I love the idea of Goodwill, but too many trips to the one in my hometown with my parents had left me with a sour taste in my mouth and a bad smell in my nose.  What is it with every Goodwill smelling like old shoes?  (probably because they sell, among other things,  old shoes!)

Anyway, while I was there, I noticed two things.  One, don't ever buy a new binder from the office supply store again, Goodwill has about 900.  And, two, they had lots of cool art and frames that I could buy and re purpose.

My best find was this canvas:

Someone obviously spent a lot of time hand painting this fireplace scene...was their name Hansel or Gretel perhaps?  Regardless, I was after the canvas!  After spending only $4 for the canvas with the frame, I took it home to repaint.  Keep in mind that a new canvas like this would cost at least $50+.

The first step was to buy some Gesso.  Gesso is what artists use to reuse or prime a canvas.  It cost $8.99 at Michaels, but with my coupon it was only $4.50.  I removed the canvas from the frame and then painted the Gesso onto the canvas:

This is what it looked like after I painted two coats of Gesso.  (Ignore the lovely vinyl tablecloth that I used as a backdrop.) 

While that dried, I spray painted the cheap wood frame a gold color. 

Then I painted the picture that I wanted on my canvas.  I was inspired by a pin on Pinterest and got my kids involved to make a Christmas tree with their hand prints.  This is my final product, all for only about $10 and a little time. 

Cute, huh?  Here is what it looks like on my mantel:

Hope you like it!  And check out your local Goodwill, not only do they have cool stuff like this, but there is some great people watching as well.  Merry Christmas!