Day 2: A test run

I decided that the best thing to do first was to make sure that the Mod Podge would work on canvas. I'd seen pictures on the internet of people doing decoupage on canvas, but really better safe than sorry. So last night, I started with just one wine label to make sure it worked.


I chose Columbia Crest Two Vines Chardonnay since we have tons of those, just in case something turned out wrong! I followed the directions, doing a coat underneath the label and on the canvas, rubbing it down. I then let it sit for 1 1/2 hr to dry, then did the top coat. This morning, all dry, it looks like this:


It's nice and smooth, and there's a little bit of a glossy sheen. I will do at least two topcoats on the final product, but the test turned out perfectly! Next time there will be some serious progress for sure. Since we've got the wedding this weekend though, I think there will have to be a bit of a break until I can really start at this next week. Until then, Chris and I will work on getting more wine labels! :)

Day 1: Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start!

Encouraged by my cousin, Sarah, I've decided to blog about my wine label project from beginning to end. So here is my first ever blog!

This project came from our anniversary. For our first anniversary, I got the bright idea to make a piece of art for Chris to hang over our couch. Right now we have picture frames everywhere, but the space above our couch is so large that the little frames just don't do the trick. I decided the best thing to do is a wine label collage. So I ordered a 30x30 canvas, some Mod Podge, and a couple of extra unused California wine labels from eBay to get me started. Though, come the anniversary, I quickly realized that for such a large canvas, I had nowhere near enough wine labels! Chris and I had saved about 25 of our own labels, but still didn't scratch the surface.

So, I called in the reserves! Aka, I called in the moms. The moms helped by saving their own wine labels, and sent them to us on computer paper so we could cut them out and use them on the decoupage. And that brings us to today. Between the moms, and Chris and I saving more wine labels, we decided we finally had enough to get started! So tonight's job: cut out the wine labels.

I started with this:


And 1 1/2 hours later, and only minor interruptions from Simon, we had 82 cut out wine labels:


Not bad for Day 1! Now next time I work on it, it's time for the hard part.... Wish me luck!