Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Not bad. Not bad at all.

So, you know how I'm taking forever to put Tessa's big girl room together? Well, I'm almost there. I finished one project last night that gave me the idea for her room in the first place. This would be finishing the pictures I wanted to hang. First of all, this was my first time using Mod Podge --which is awesome. A good friend of mine just completed a great Mod Podge project and posted it as well: a girl's bow holder. Let's face it, Liz, those who haven't discovered the fun of this glue/sealer should.
This is how it started: Jake's parents gave us a really fun calendar for Christmas. It has beautiful depictions of fairy tales and nursery rhymes. I thought, "These pictures would be great for a kid's room." So, this was the direction I decided to go with Tessa's nursery graduation. I asked around about what people thought I could do. Custom framing? Holy cow, no. NOT in the budget. I wanted at least six. I could have chopped and fit to size into cheaper frames, but nah, not when Dianna gave me another idea. Wood boards and Mod Podge.
1. First we went to Home Depot and picked out a big pressed wood board (3/8" thick). We had the worker guy cut it down into the sizes that we wanted (1/2" smaller on each side than the calendar picture). We also picked up some sawtooth hangers so we can hang the pictures. This all totalled around $9.00.
2. Then, at the craft store, we picked up some brown acryllic paint, a foam brush, and matte finish Mod Podge. (Total around $7.50.)
3. I sanded the sides of the wood boards and then painted them brown since centering the pictures (esp. with the top calendar holes) wouldn't result in the side edges being completely covered.

4. Then, I cut out the six pictures from the calendar (free, thanks to the in-laws), glued them to the boards using the Mod Podge, smoothed it out the best I could, folded the pictures around the sides of the wood, and double layered the Mod Podge on top of the pictures.

5. They dried relatively quickly, and now we just need to put the sawtooth hangers on back. I'm very pleased with them! Now, like any project I do, if you come over and see them, please don't look closely. I tried my best to smooth out the bubbles, but they aren't perfect. However, they were made with love, I figure, and the kid would never notice the difference. And HOORAY for an awesomely cheap project.

I've got a couple more things I want to do in her room, and then I'm done. Then I have to move on to baby boy's room. I've got no ideas. If you do, please share.

6 comments:

rosebud said...

Way to go! So cute!! Don't you just love all that pregnant nesting energy?! I think I was the most industrious I've ever been while pregnant!

Lori said...

Nice job! Beautiful pictures, that room is going to be awesome!

Wendy Peay said...

Good job! I have never tried modge-podge before, I will have to. It will be a fantasy come true for your bueatiful girl. Just wait until she's five and wants a "Fashion Designer" room. What the heck? And good luck with baby boy's room. I did blue stripes in Riley's room-wow!

Rasmussen Forever said...

Bravo! You are a Martha Stewart. Can't wait to see the finished product of big sisters room.

Liz said...

I love those Maren! What beautiful pictures and you did a great job turning them into something even more beautiful. Hooray for ModPodge!!

Amber Lee said...

Wow! What an awesome idea! I've mod-podged before and realized it has tons of potential for craftiness, but I never would have thought of this. Every year I hate to throw away my Greg Olsen or Simon Dewey calendars because the pictures are so good, but I don't know what to do with them! Brilliant!