Chic Matching Pictures for Decorating (on a Tight Budget!)

So I kept seeing all these beautiful seamless pictures for decorating. They usually come in a set for the upwards of $50-$75...a la cart, they run $15-$30 per picture. After drooling over them but knowing I couldn't afford them, I lost my patience and decided to make my own! Here are the materials you will need:

Materials:
3 painting canvases (I got mine from Michael's, $8 for all 3 with a coupon)
3 pieces of elegant fabric of your choice (I used those crafting squares you can get at JoAnn's, 99 cents a piece)
1 large piece of designed transparent fabric (I used Ikea's Anno Inez panel curtain, link at the end of the step, $10)
An iron and ironing board
Staple gun and staples
Nails
String
Scissors

Curtain I used: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60083318/

Step 1: Iron...if You Have To...

First step is to iron the creases out of your fabric squares if you got the same ones I did. If your fabric doesn't have any creases, ignore this step.

Step 2: Cut Fabric to Size

Place the first piece of fabric decorated side down on a table, so you're looking at the back of the fabric. Place your first canvas facedown on top. Cut the fabric to size, leaving a good 3-4 inches around the edges so you have enough to wrap the fabric up around the edges of the canvas. Sorry I don't have a picture, I didn't decide I was going to make an instructable until half way through! >.<

Step 3: Staple the Top and Bottom, Snip the Edges

Stretch the fabric over the edges of the canvas, and using the staple gun, staple the top and then the bottom in place. You really only need 1 staple in the center per side at this point since we'll be stapling again later.

You'll notice that the fabric you wrapped around the corner will be in a u-shape. Carefully snip around the edges of the corners so that the fabric can lay flat on your work surface.

Step 4: Cut Off a Square for the Corner

Cut off the tabs you created in the corners of the fabric so that you can fold the next two pieces over without excess. Fold over and staple the remaining two sides so they match the first. Feel free to trim any strings of fabric that hang out of the corners.

Step 5: Repeat.

Repeat this process on your other 2 canvases so you have 3 pretty fabric pictures (technically you could probably hang them like this if you wanted, skip to step 8 if you're hanging them like this)

Step 6: Cut Fabric/Curtain to Size

Lay your canvases on the fabric you plan on using for your top layer, make sure you like the design spacing on the piece you're using. Cut to size, leaving a good 3-4 inches again to wrap and staple.

Step 7: Repeat.

Repeat steps 3 and 4, stapling the top layer to your canvas. For this step, I used 3 staples per side of the picture, this holds not only the top layer, but the parts of the bottom layer of fabric you only stapled in one spot.

Step 8: How to Make a Super Cheap Hanging Device!

If your canvases are like mine, there's no hanging mechanism on the back. The nicest way to hang pictures like these is with string. I used meat string, since its nice and sturdy.

Find some nails that you can nail horizontally into the side of the wood supporting the canvas without it poking out the sides, preferably a nail with a decent sized head. Tie a double knot at the end of the string while it's still on the reel. Push the end of the nail through the knot, so that the nail goes through the middle of the knot and the head is at the end. Nail this into one side of the picture, stretch the string so you know how long it needs to be to reach the other side, leave an extra inch and cut the string. Tie another knot and repeat for the opposing side.