Mod Podge

Today, I got a mad hair to do some cleaning and work out. Good yes, but somehow I ended up here blogging about my crafting adventures the past few days. A friend introduced me to Mod Podge three days ago. For all of you who don't know, or remember it I should say, think back to all those school projects, when you were assigned the building a model of the lizard you'd just spent the whole week learning about, and you excitedly raced home, ideas bouncing around like you backpack on your back. Your mother cleared the kitchen table of all valuables, and whipped out the Elmer's glue and newspaper strips. Now do you remember? YES. Mod Podge is the glorious reinvention of Decoupage. You may wonder why an adult would enjoy something like this? I ask you, who WOULDN'T? Thus far my creations include a tray for our guest bedroom. I will post pics as soon as it has done drying, I promise.

I have to add a warning here: PREPARE TO GET STICKY. There are some air bubbles that will NOT come out if you don't press them clean, and nothing works better than those 10 Dancing Phalanges (Yay Bones! Anybody get the reference?).

I started with a wooden tray from the craft department at Michael's (3.99), a bottle of Mod Podge (the bigger size was 7.99, about 16 oz) and two sheets of scrapbooking paper to fit my theme. I chose a Globe theme, because the paper really inspired me to start the project. The middle sheet is a 12x12 (on sale at 29 cents) and the edge pieces are actually one 8 1/2x11 (12 cents).

After cleaning my elements of all the price tags and such, I painted the tray brown except for the surfaces where the paper would be. As the paint dried, I trimmed my papers to fit the center. Because I was using one sheet for the complementary edges, I cut it in half before I trimmed the bottom edges to fit. I applied mod podge to the back of the sheets, laying the edge pieces first, followed by the map page. I then applied the mod podge in a thick layer over the whole tray interior. It feels like a lot of mod podge, but it will dry nicely, giving you a bubbled, antique look.

I hope this inspires you to revisit the joy from your childhood, and spend an afternoon creating something wonderful.