a DIY holiday

so, Christmas is coming up faster than i'd like to admit. and i don't know about you, but i have a huge family, which means lots of gifts to buy. i love giving gifts, but some years are harder than others, you know? luckily, i like making things. and i like to think that people like receiving things from me that i've made. i could be wrong, but i'm just going with it. every Christmas i'll make a gift for at least one person on my list. a tight budget + a huge family + creative juices = handmade gifts. this year, i invited some of my friends to share their best "DIY holiday" gift ideas with you, for a little series that i'm calling:

you'll need modpodge, scissors, a paintbrush, a wrapped canvas, and one larger piece of fabric, and a bunch of fabric strips. mine were 2.5" wide, but the width will vary depending on your canvas size. 

fold one end of the strip longways, and cut at a diagonal to form the arrow effect

cover most of the canvas in modpodge and carefully lay the fabric down, smoothing all the wrinkles and bubbles. modpodge is pretty forgiving so don't stress about this part. i would recommend ironing your fabric and strips ahead of time if you're going to be giving this to someone.

then spread a few inches of modpodge onto the un-fabric'd side, and lay down your first strip, smoothing it out as you go. once you know where it will lay, dab the ends of the "arrow" with modpodge and smooth them down. lay them at varying lengths or lined up perfectly, depending on what you like.

 and voila! pretty right? i think i might be keeping this one for myself.