$9 DIY Canvas Picnic Blanket

$9 DIY Canvas Picnic Blanket, or The Everything Blanket

I can’t say that using fabric paint on a canvas drop cloth was my very own idea, but I think it’s a pretty brilliant one! I first saw the idea on Pinterest, which led me to The Yellow Brick Home blog. 


I originally made these two throws for guest to sit on as picnic blankets at Chelsea’s baby shower. Then I started using them for, well, everything. Table clothes, picnic blankets, a place to wipe dirty hands and let otter pops melt on. You name it, it’s been used for that. That’s why I’d like to introduce to you THE EVERYTHING BLANKET.

 THE EVERYTHING BLANKET is a cute throw that you can let your kids trash, trample, spill on, spit up on, and at the end of the day throw in the washer and it’s perfectly clean in an hour. It also gets A LOT softer after you wash it. 


THE EVERYTHING BLANKET is just a simple canvas drop cloth that you can buy at Home Depot or Lowes. There are tons of different sizes. Mine is a 9′x12′ and I think it’s the perfect size. Why? Because you can put a slew of kids on it, but still folds up nice and small for toting around. 


Not sure about you, but this is what OUR picnics up the canyon look like. Not as picturesque as some other picnic images online, but this is an EVERYTHING BLANKET and we use it for everything



After you buy your drop cloth, get fabric paint, a sponge brush, painter’s tape, and have at it. For the yellow triangle I simply taped off a long corner and painted it. Make sure there’s plastic or something under the canvas in case it goes through. 


For the green and cream blanket, I just evenly spaced out the tape in long stripes and alternated colors. I watered down the paint a little to make the colors a little more muted. The paint dries really fast outside in the sun. After it’s dry, just peel off the tape and you have your EVERYTHING BLANKET. 


Again, I originally got the idea from The Yellow Brick Home blog. Make sure to go ahead and check it
out!