If you are in a sorority, you know there are certain times that require some level of artistic ability, particularly events like Big/Little Reveal. These events often come with the expectation that as a Big you will be making canvases and other gifts for your soon-to-be Little to enjoy. If you are anything like myself, this brings about absolute TERROR. As someone who can barely draw a straight line, let alone freehand Lily Pulitzer print or a mandala onto a canvas, my lack of artistic vision makes creating gifts for my future Little a frustrating process. However, I was gifted with an artistic mother who shared a few tips for making painting canvases easier!

1. Always tape off the back and sides of your canvases with painters tape. This keeps them looking neat and put together!

2. Always put at least two layers of paint for the background of the canvas. This ensures that the background is one solid color and prevents it from looking blotchy.

3. STENCILS ARE YOUR FRIENDS. Whenever I create a canvas, I never freehand any writing onto a canvas, because quite frankly, as a lefty, my handwriting is less than adequate. Stencils allow for me to get my message across on a canvas, as well as keep it looking polished! There are many varieties of fonts to choose from at your local craft store and even stores like Walmart and Target!

4. Stencils also come in different designs, like stripes, chevron print, mandalas, arrows, sugar skulls, and just about anything else you can think of. These are great resources for decorating a canvas.

5. Two words: Iron-on transfers. A simple trick that I learned that immensely improved my canvas game was the idea to make use of iron on transfers. Decide on a background color and paint your canvas accordingly. One the background is dry, remove the staples from the back of the canvas and remove the fabric from the wood. Using either a light or dark transfer paper depending on your background color, design the art for your canvas, mirror it, and then print it onto the paper as directed. From here you can just trace over the design with paintbrushes or paint pens; whatever you feel more comfortable with! Once dry reattach the fabric to the wood using a staple gun!

6. Don’t be afraid to re-gift. Your Big and GBig may have canvases they are willing to pass along for your Little! So don’t be afraid to ask! Why spend the money on art supplies when you could get a completed canvas for free?

7. Shop on Etsy. There are MANY Etsy Stores that are devoted to making custom sorority canvases for little to no money (Some of my favorites being GreekCanvases, WestJeffersonDesigns, and HouseOneEleven).

When using these tricks while doing a little bit of pre-crafting for my future Little, I found a once very overwhelming and frustrating task actually became fun! With these tips in mind, I wish you the best in your crafting endeavors!