Perfect! The size of the canvas was just right for kindergarteners to hold. It was small enough to be manageable, yet big enough to keep the kids busy decorating. But, what good is a small canvas?
Create Your Own Canvas Painting for Kids using Heat Transfer Vinyl
Create an adorable DIY Canvas Painting for kids to enjoy using the Silhouette Cameo and Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV). This easy craft makes great gifts, birthday favors, and perfect for room decor!
I always find new ways to use my Silhouette Cameo like creating a canvas painting for kids using heat transfer vinyl. Did you know you can use heat transfer vinyl (HTV) on canvas? The fabric material on canvas makes it a great surface for heat transfer vinyl. My daughter loves painting and creating things but she can’t draw what she wants quite yet. She asked for a mermaid canvas art so I fired up my Silhouette Cameo and found an adorable mermaid she can paint. Post contains affiliate links. It just means I make a small commission if you purchase anything through my links. There is no additional cost for you.
The mermaid design was perfect because it was already like a coloring page with the thick black outlines. You’ve probably seen the painting canvas kits in Michael’s or Walmart for a few dollars. But I like that we can put exactly what we want on our canvas. If your child is into horses, monkeys, unicorns, or anything else – they can now paint it!
Create Your Own Canvas Painting for Kids
Supplies needed to DIY Canvas Painting for Kids
- Silhouette Cameo or Cricut cutting machine
- Black Heat transfer Vinyl
- Canvas (whatever size option you want)
- Design of choice (I used this “Always Be a Mermaid” file)
- Clover Mini Iron
- Weeding tools
How to Create Your Own Canvas Painting for Kids:
Open Silhouette Studio and load your design. You can find ideas on Design Bundles – they have so many graphics! Once your design is loaded in Silhouette Studio, change the page size to reflect your canvas size.
To change the page size, click the first icon on the right-hand side. Select “custom” and change it to the correct size. My canvas was 8×10 which is what I changed it to.
Size the design to fit within the page size. If you want to remove any elements, right-click and “ungroup”. Then, select the element you want to delete. For example, I deleted a bubble that was on top of the mermaids hair.
Once you are happy with the image, right-click and flip horizontally. Since we are working with heat transfer vinyl (HTV) we need to mirror.
Send your design to cut. Be sure to always test cut! Once it is done cutting, start weeding your design.
Carefully place your design and align in the center of your canvas. Using a regular iron or mini iron, press a few seconds on each section making sure not to leave it on too long! Carefully peel the clear top layer, if any piece is coming up just carefully press that section again.
Your child is ready to start painting!
My daughter got to work right away! She is proudly displaying her artwork in her mermaid room. The HTV worked really well on the canvas material which made it easy paint. Of course, now my daughter is requesting more canvas paintings! I should’ve known, ha ha.
Does your child like painting on canvas?
It was the perfect “kid DIY” project!
The end result? I’m glad you asked. Check this out:
We just waited until the paint dried, and added the self-adhesive magnets to the back.
These would be fun to make for grandparents or teachers.
You’re only limited by your imagination on this one. Painting worked well. Permanent marker does, too:
We found dot art paint in the cabinet, and tried it:
So, now the choice is yours.
What will you use?
- Washi tape?
- Fabric?
- Glitter?
- Crayon?
- Colored Pencil?
- Fingerprinting?
- Scrapbook Paper?
- Decoupage?
- Vinyl? (Ooh, speaking of vinyl, I have a cool vinyl magnet craft here.)
Have fun crafting, and be sure to share your photos with me on Facebook or Instagram!
