Pretty Paper Covered Letters for Baby P!

I've never used Mod Podge before. How is that possible you ask? I have no idea. I am now in LOVE.  I'm also in LOVE with paper. There are so many beautiful papers out there! I could spend hours looking at paper and dreaming up places to use it.  After creating the letters below for my baby daughter's room, I now want to cover anything and everything using Mod Podge and a fantastic looking paper.

Picture frames, trays, more words...you name it, I want to Mod Podge it!

Anyway, I know that covering letters with paper is not something new, but I wanted to show you how it turned out and offer a couple of tips to what worked for me.

This is what I started with (everything came from JoAnn's):

I sanded the edges of the letters down and then painted them an off-white color.

Then, I traced the letters backwards onto the back side of the paper. (Did I mention that I'm obsessed with paper? I love this paper! I see more things covered in this paper in the future!)  One side note on tracing, since I painted the letters white, the pencil marks showed on the side of the letter. I erased them all, but next time I think I'll trace BEFORE painting.

Next, I cut out the paper letters and used the Mod Podge to adhere them to the wood letters.  I think I could've used a bit more glue. And I got impatient and put a top coat of Mod Podge before they were completely dry. Not a good idea! The paper will bubble up. (I was able to "fix" it enough that you can't really see any bubbles by smoothing them out before the top coat dried.)

Here is the finished product:

I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! We are currently in a rental so everything is builder beige. This adds a nice pop of color to her room. 





Spray painted pumpkins

When I saw the beautiful metallic spray painted pumpkins Roo did over at nice girl notes, I had to give it a try.  So, off to Family Dollar, Michael's, Hobby Lobby and JoAnn's I went in search of pumpkins, paint and maybe a little extra. 

This is what I ended up with:

My little bit of extra was scrapbooking rub-ons. Ironically, the rub-ons were the most expensive thing I bought. Too bad I didn't have my Michael's 40% off one item coupon. As the nosy, I mean nice, lady behind me in line pointed out. "Every penny counts!" Yeah, I know...thanks for pointing it out. Sigh. Anwho, back to being crafty!

First step, spray paint the pumpkins. I used a brushed metallic paint. I debated between that and a flat cream. The brushed metallic was on clearance, so that made my decision easy!

They already look so much better!

So, putting on the rub-ons was a little more challenging than I thought it would be. The grooves in the pumpkins made it kinda tricky.  They were small rub-ons, so I just used my finger nail to rub them on the pumpkins. 

Didn't they turn out cute?

I actually like the small ones best. The words on the 3 tier pumpkin got a little crooked. I may take it off and re-do with something different (if I can figure out how to get it off that is).  The stack of rub-ons I got had letters as well as phrases, so I've got a lot of options.

I think the whole thing took me maybe 30-45 minutes (and that included dry time for the paint).  If you are looking for quick, cheap and easy little fall craft project this one definitely hits the mark! Let me know what you think! And if you try it too, I'd love to see what you do with it.

Also, head on over to Remoeolaholic's Anonymous Party to see what's been posted or post something yourself!

My first post!

I’ve gone back and forth about starting a blog for a while. I mean, does the blogosphere really need another mom-blogger? There are a bunch out there.  Each as their own twist though, I guess. And after reading some of them I decided to go for it. What the heck!

I’ve been married for twelve years and am a working mom with two kids, a four (almost five) year old son and a one month old baby girl. So, at the moment I’m maternity leave. What better time to start a project! I’m already sleep deprived…why not add another thing to do on top of everything else?

I’m a book worm and pretty creative.  My problem is I can decide on one crafty thing to be my focus. I scrapbook, paint (ok, I’ve only done one painting, but I really like it!), and digital photography (I’m the family photographer and make everyone line up and take pics at the holidays).  One Christmas I made all the girls (on both sides of the family) their Christmas gifts, including decorating the gift bags. (That was before I had my son.)  I love to cook and bake and I’ve sewn pillows (I’m pretty sure I could do curtains if I put my mind to it).  I’d love to learn to make jewelry and maybe pottery.  I’m addicted to HGTV and over the past couple of years, my magazine subscriptions have changed from Cosmo and Glamour to Better Homes and Gardens and Good Housekeeping. Does that mean I’m getting old?  

See my dilemma? I love all of this stuff, and am decent at it…do I want to become GREAT at one thing? Not sure. I kinda like keeping my options open.

Anywho, that’s what this blog is about.  Me, trying new stuff, what worked, what didn’t, maybe some funny stories about what’s going on in my northern town.