Jute Fringe Trees on Wood Canvas

SUPPLIES & TOOLS:

• Wood canvas frames - natural, 6"x 10" and finished white, 16"x 20"
• Acrylic paint, Apple Barrel, Pewter Grey and White, 2 oz., 1 each
• Folk Art chalk paint, White Adirondack
• Palette
• Brushes, 3/4" flat and 1" chip
• Sandpaper, fine
• Fabri-Tac adhesive
• Trim scissors
• Ruler, flexible
• Jute Fringe, 1 1/2"x 2 yards minimum
• Pin
• Pencil
• Eraser

DIRECTIONS:

1. Paint the 6"x 10" frame with grey acrylic paint. Do not paint on interior of frame. Let dry. Brush over grey with chalk paint. Let dry to touch, 5 - 10 minutes. Rub over chalk paint with sandpaper to distress the frame. Use a rougher sandpaper to remove thicker chalk paint quicker. Keep the larger, finished frame close to match the frames.


2. Paint the interior of the 6"x 10" frame with white paint. Sand lightly and re-coat. Let dry.


3. Cut fringe: Cut ends so there is a loop of fringe at the bottom edge on both cut ends. Immediately place a small dot of adhesive at the cut edge top and back and set to dry. This will ensure that the ends stay intact. Keep the cut sections laid out in descending lengths. This will be helpful for easy assembly.


4. 16"x 20" frame, 14 pieces of fringe - longest piece/ bottom piece 7 1/2", each piece 1/2" shorter than previous piece.


5. 6"x 10" frame, 5 pieces of fringe - longest piece/bottom piece 3", each piece 1/2" shorter than previous piece.


6. Mark a light pencil centerline from the top to the bottom in the interior of both frames.


7. Mark a light pencil line up from the bottom edge of the interior on the centerline: small frame, 1 5/8", large frame, 3". This locates the bottom edge of the longest piece of fringe.


8. Fold the longest piece of fringe in half and mark the center with a pin. Open the fringe and place centered on the centerline of the frame. The bottom edge of the fringe should be at the mark up from the bottom edge. Slightly curve the sides of fringe upward. Mark points on the frame to locate the ends of the fringe the same distance from the bottom edge and sides of the frame. Remove the fringe and apply a bead of adhesive to the back of the finished top edge. Place and press the fringe in place.


9. With a ruler, mark a point on the centerline of each frame that connects to the top cut ends of the first row of fringe. From that mark, on the centerline, mark every 1" up on the small frame and every 3/4" up on the large frame. These marks are the points to place the subsequent top centers of fringe.


10. Layer the fringe one row at a time, adjusting the curve of the ends to cover over the previous layer. Find the center of each piece of fringe and place on the centerline. The top few rows of fringe may need a spot of adhesive behind one or two of the outer loops of fringe to cover the top edge of the previous layer of fringe. Let dry 24 hours.


11. Erase visible pencil lines.