How to Spray Paint Burlap

So a few weeks ago I was reading through some favorite blogs, and I stumbled across a post on Happy Go Lucky where the blogger, Kara,  had spray painted burlap for a ruffled table runner. I thought, “Whoa, spray painting burlap?” I’ve used acrylic paints on burlap before, but it had never occurred to me to spray paint burlap. Honestly, I think I would use burlap more often if it could be colored. Apparently, now I can.

The technique for spray painting burlap is pretty cut and dry, but here are some tips and tricks that I learned from my spray painting maiden voyage.

• Get any fabric folds out before painting. Burlap isn’t the softest fabric out there, and painting it only makes it stiffer. So if the burlap can in a folded package or has been mussed up in the fabric stash, get those crinkles out before painting to make it easier on yourself.
• The base color of the burlap does have a bearing on the final painted color. I chose a pink color, but after painting on traditional brown burlap the end result was almost more of a melon. Spray painting on cream burlap will more than likely end in the closest desired color.
• The fabric soaks up the pain, but two coats of spray paint should do it.
• Paint both sides- the paint does not go through.
• Cut the fabric first before spray painting. Spray paint outside as you would any other spray paint project.
• It dries fairly quickly. I was able to craft with mine within a few hours of painting.

I used my spray painted burlap to wrap a birthday gift. I wrapped the burlap around the gift and secured it with hot glue.

My Cricut made the rest easy. I cut an “E” using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge and a cute shape with the Accent Essentials cartridge. These are two pretty standard cartridges that most Cricut owners have. It’s always fun to figure out ways to use old favorite cartridges!

I’m thinking of using this technique for all my gifts this year. It’s such as easy way to dress up a package, and a few hours of spray painting can allow for enough burlap for all the gifts!