How to Paint Over a Poster

Do you have art in your home that you’re tired of? Wish you could give it a makeover? Have some nice frames but they just need something new inside? I’ve got a great idea to share with you today, and it’s one of the easiest things you can do to give your artwork a new life. If you ever wondered if you can paint over a poster, the answer is yes!

A while back I picked up this poster in a frame on the side of the road. Yes, I do that sometimes. It had a great frame, the thin metal kind, that I’ve been buying lots of at the thrift stores (like for my gallery wall), but no glass, which was fine. And I wanted something new in our foyer to replace the homasote bulletin board, so up it went.

Although it was boring and blah, I loved the size of it and spent weeks trying to figure out if I replace the art, get some glass for the frame, or just take it down all together.

It had this floral print, but some of the title at the bottom had come off, so I knew I had to do something with it.

Some people may love this print as-is, but it just wasn’t working for me. Although since I’ve brought pink into my home decor, I’ve also wanted to bring more floral prints in too. So I tried to think of a way to keep the floral part, but do something free (or really cheap) with the rest.

I’d been playing around with my Silhouette Portrait lately. It’s a craft machine that cuts all kinds of shapes out of paper, vinyl and to my discovery, contact paper too. I heard you can use contact paper instead of expensive vinyl for crafts and such, so I tested it out and sure enough, success! If you’re a Facebook fan, you saw my post and are excited about this too.

My plan was to cut out a word and stick it to the poster, then paint over the rest of it to mask the word.

So I asked the hubs if he could pick any word for a piece of art at home, what would it be?

I need to make him think he’s involved in the decor around here some how 🙂

He said “Enjoy. You know, enjoy life, the moment, what you have.”

So there it was. I created the word in the Silhouette Design Studio. This font is Abadi MT Condensed Extra, in size 778. I cut each letter separate out of contact paper since the height of each is 8 inches. And I did use the cutting mat for this.

Then, I marked out where each would go on the poster. You can mark on it with pencil since it will get painted over. To make a piece look a little more artistic, put the word off-center. This gives it a unique look.

Peel off the backing and stick on the letters. Use your fingernail or a credit card to make sure the edges of each letter all the way around are stuck on well. You don’t want paint getting underneath.

Then you can paint over the poster with a paint brush and regular latex paint.  The color I used is called Peony by Benjamin Moore, it’s leftover from the show house closet. It took 5 coats to cover the print underneath. If I was thinking ahead I would have primed it first to reduce the amount of coats I used.

After the paint is dry, carefully peel off the contact paper to reveal the print underneath and you have instant art. The best part is that this cost me nothing since I had all the supplies, or it;s very inexpensive with thrift store art, contact paper and a sample of paint. And I’m loving the bright pink addition to our foyer.

I think I might even pick up more second-hand art to do a series of these. What other words should I use?

So now you know, yes you can paint over a poster and don’t even need expensive supplies to make your own art. If you don’t have a cutting machine, it’s super easy to do this freehand by drawing the letters and cutting them out.

Now, what else can I paint pink around here?

See all my Silhouette projects and things I’ve made free.

Sharing with The Creative Collection Link Party at Classy Clutter.