Popcorn Kernel Floral Canvas

Add some unique art to your walls with this Popcorn Kernel Floral Canvas from Gloria Uhler.  Made with painted corn kernels, this canvas is textured and stylish...and makes a great decor item for any room in the house.  You could also make three smaller canvases instead of one large one to suit a smaller space or wall.  This is an easy project that anyone can complete and enjoy.

Materials:

• 8” x 24” canvas
• Aleene’s Tacky Glue
• Chalk pencil
• Scissors
• Disposable cake decorating bags
• Bag coupler and tip
• Tape
• Craft knife
• Needle
• Craft sticks
• Disposable plastic dish
• White Adhesive Caulking
• Popcorn kernels
• Toothpicks
• Aztek airbrush
• White gloss paint 4696
• Burnt Sienna paint 4607
• Template 1
• Template 2

Instructions:

1. Download the two template pages and tape them together.  Canvas measures 8” x 24”
    
2. Spray the entire canvas with Burnt Sienna paint.  Don’t forget the sides.
    
3. While the paint dries, slice through the lines of the template with a craft knife.  Poke holes in the circles.
    
4. Position the template on the canvas.  Using a chalk pencil, draw light lines in the slits and dots in the circles.
    
5. Remove the template to reveal the canvas design.  These markings will be your guide for applying caulking and corn kernels.
    
6. Place corn kernels in a disposable plastic container to keep them from flying around while you spray paint them white.  Let them dry thoroughly.  They will require more than one coat.  But don’t fuss over them too much because you can touch up the white paint later.
    
7. Do not cut the tip of the caulking container as suggested on the package.  Instead, pierce the tip with a sharp, thick needle or a nail.
    
8. Follow the markings you created with chalk, covering the fine lines with caulking.
    
9. When all the fine lines are complete, cut the caulking container at the first mark on the tip.
    
10. Create the two thick flower stems with the caulking.
     
11. Attach a disposable cake decorating bag to a leaf tip.  You’ll find the simple steps on the back of the box the bags come in.  Cake decorating supplies should not be used with food after working with caulking.
     
12. Fold the top half of the bag over into a cuff.  Put the cap back on the tip of the caulking tube then cut open the opposite end and slip it into the cuffed bag.
     
13. Squeeze the contents of the tube into the bag.  Unfold the cuff and twist the end of the bag.
     
14. Squeeze the bag as you follow the markings for the leaves.  Don’t hesitate to overlap some.  Moving steadily across the canvas will produce relatively smooth leaves.  Moving very slowly will cause the leaves to lift, ripple, and create even more dimension.
     
15. Place small dots of glue on the marks you created for the blooms.  These give you a general outline of the flower.  More kernels are needed to complete the image. Add them working from the outline toward the center until you have the number of kernels that appeal to you.
     

Tips:

• Unintentional drops of caulking can be cleaned up easily with a wet Q-Tip.  Work gently to avoid removing the paint.
• Use toothpicks or craft sticks to straighten misguided lines.
• Touch up kernels with a small brush and white paint as needed.
• Touch up the canvas as necessary with a brush and Burnt Sienna Pant.