Paper planes: simple embroidered canvas art

We had a destination wedding. Sort of.

We were living in Germany at the time and decided to get married on one of my favourite childhood beaches in Australia. This meant that half of our guests and most of our bridal party had to travel from Europe, the US or interstate.

Partly because of ‘destination’ style wedding and partly because of the song that had become the theme of our relationship and was the first dance song at our wedding (Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters”), I We decided to have a travel theme. I mean, doesn’t it work perfectly with the line “So close, no matter how far”?

In order to save money, I decided to design all the invitations, etc. myself. In keeping with the theme, we had telegram save the date cards, plane ticket invitations, passport programs, and a bag tag seating chart. The tables were ‘destinations’ and we used a lot of vintage suitcases (Let me know if you would like me to do a post on our wedding and all the things I created).

Instead of confetti, we had paper planes.

When I was styling the new cabinet in the hallway, I realised that we needed a small piece of art for one shelf. Preferably, it had to be mostly white, but I wanted it to have meaning for us. In one serendipitous moment, I came us with the perfect solution. It was so easy! And it took me less than half an hour.

So easy, so personal, so easy to personalise

Not only was it quick and easy (my favourite type of DIY with a 3 y.o.), but it was an easy way to personalise the space. All you need is a simple image that has meaning for you. For example, if your school or favourite team are known as the hawks or stallions, you could use Picasso’s hawk or horse drawings as your image. Or use part of a state emblem to reference where you are from or met your significant other. The options are endless!

Embroidered canvas art

What you need

1. A blank canvas in the size you want. You could easily paint it first if you wanted a different colour background.
2. An image. Either download something you like (like I did) or draw if freehand, directly on the canvas if you wish.
3. Carbon copy paper to transfer the image to the canvas. If you are drawing the image, you will obviously not need this.
4. A pencil (for drawing or transferring the image).
5. A needle.
6. Embroidery thread in your chosen colour(s).
7. Scissors.

How to do it

Decide on your image size and placement and then trace over it, placing the carbon copy paper between the canvas and the image. Make sure the carbon copy paper is the right way round or it will not work.

Thread the embroidery thread through the needle. I found that two strands, doubled over (to effectively be four) were sufficient for this project.

Stitch your first stitch, following the lines you transferred onto or drew on the canvas. Keep stitching until your embroidered canvas art is done.

Display and enjoy!

Just a side note

I ended up putting my nail polish in a jar in the cupboard because there wasn’t going to be space in our new bathroom. The simplicity, I think, makes it nice enough to be on display. It also reminds me that the last time my Mum and I had a pedicure together was our wedding. The wooden hand completing the trio is not only a nod to the nail polish, but the ‘horns’ pose is a nod to Metallica and our first dance song. The embroidered canvas art with our signature paper plane completes the trio.