Baby Shower Canvas Guest Book Tutorial

Ever been to a baby shower or wedding shower with a thumbprint guest book? Well, here are a few steps to make your very own! The great part is, you can use this tutorial for so many things! I have made several gifts now using this technique, including drawer knobs. So easy and the results are great.

Here are the steps:

1. A Blank Canvas. I used an 8x10 Canvas I ordered on Amazon for a few dollars.

2. A Spray Bottle. I used an old cleaning bottle and rinsed it out. Fill it with water.

 3.  Golden Gel Medium. This Gel transfers the images for you onto paper, canvas, wood, and other surfaces. Mod Podge works too, but I think this gel works a little more consistently. You can find the gel at craft stores or on Amazon.

4. Foam Brushes. I got mine at the Craft Store on base for about .99 cents. You could just use a paint brush. 

5. Print the image you want to transfer. I used a Laser Printer.  

NOTE: I was hosting a Woodland Themed Baby Shower for a baby girl, so I wanted to do a tree. I looked for lots of images of trees online, and couldn't find anything free or perfect, until I came across the website wedding chicks. This link will take you directly to the app on their website that allows you to customize this tree with the date of the shower or wedding or event in general, and the name you want to add. Even the colors are customizable! So awesome! I love the Internet.

6.  I flipped the picture backwards in my "print options" knowing I was going to transfer the image onto canvas. If you don't have words on your image, you don't have to worry about this step.

7. Cover the image in the Gel Medium using your brush. Make sure to use plenty of gel so the whole image  will transfer. Then, turn the image down onto the canvas and rub it with some pressure with the back of a spoon. If you have a Brayer, use that. Wait a day for the gel to dry. 

8. Once the Gel is dry, take your squirt bottle and soak the paper till it is completely wet and you see the image. Rub the paper off the canvas with your fingers gently. It makes a mess of little paper pieces. You have to keep rewetting the paper until you rub it all off. If you rub too hard, you will take the image off accidentally. Some people like to use a sponge for this part, but I feel like I have more control using my fingers.

9. Once all the paper is off, it should leave just the image you wanted to transfer, and now all you need to do is seal the image by either painting on another coat of gel medium all over the canvas, or use mod podge. I use mod podge because it is cheaper. However, if you are adding fingerprint stamps, wait to seal it until after the thumb prints are on there.

10. That's it! Here is how it turned out with the finger prints.