How to Turn Any Print Into a Faux Oil Painting

Have you ever admired an oil painting, but been shocked by the price tag? Today I will show you how to turn any print into a faux oil painting.

Recently when I was on a little thrift shopping adventure, I saw a beautiful autumn inspired oil painting. It was lovely, and you could tell someone had really put a lot of work into the details. As much as I loved the painting, I did not love the price tag. I’m a frugal girl, and even though I was at a thrift store, there are still some prices I just won’t pay. Especially for seasonal decor. So, I decided to set out to make my own faux oil painting. I knew it could be done, I just had to figure out how to do it.

The Materials I used:

Small paint brush
modge podge
printed print – I’ll add the one I used as a bonus free printable below!

Faux-Oil-Painting-for-Fall Download

The Process:

This was SUPER simple. I simply dipped my small paint brush in the modge-podge and made small x’s all over the print. Some spots I added more to create a thicker texture, while others I only applied a thin coat.

I let it dry for about 2 hours. Since some of it was pretty thick, it took a little bit to completely dry.
I popped the new faux oil painting into a frame I had on hand, and voila. All done. I’m pretty pleased with the finished product, and it cost me exactly $0 to make it since I had everything on hand. Now THAT is my kind of budget friendly project.

A word about modge-podge

There are different finishes of modge-podge. All I had on hand was glossy, but I think a matte would have looked better. If I were going to buy some for this project specifically, I would buy the matte.

You can typically find the small bottles like I used at Dollar Tree. That makes this project even more budget friendly.

I LOVE the texture that the modge-podge added to this plain print. I also love that it enhanced the ink on the print as well. It made it so much more vibrant and authentic looking in my opinion. This is definitely a project I’ll keep in mind for the future.

I got rid of all of my fall decorations a few years ago. They were old, some were broken and glued, and needed replaced. This year the only thing I’ve bought is 4 bunches of faux leaf stems and one faux pumpkin…and quite honestly, I’m not sure where it is. Emmy carried it off one day, and I haven’t seen it since. Mostly, I enjoy using things from outside to decorate with. Twigs with pretty leaves, dried grasses and flowers, and pumpkins from the garden.

Do you decorate for fall? I used to go all out, but anymore, I add a few autumnal touches and call it good.

Here are a few posts from the last few fall seasons if you’re interested in more: