Guest Blogger: Mod Podge Rocks!

Amy is one of my bloggy besties. I love her site and I am constantly in awe of the creative Mod Podge genuises out there. Plus I no longer call it Modge Podge since I am now “in” with Amy…tee hee. You have to become on of her followers so you don’t miss any inspiration. Mod Podge is one of the easiest and most forgiving mediums to use. Did you know you can use it on furniture? Click here, here, and here for some of my favorite projects. Plus little Miss Mod Podge Rocks is having a giveaway. Click here to enter for a sampler pack of Mod Podge.

Well hello there – this is Amy, the girl behind Mod Podge Rocks. I am so flattered that Beckie asked me to guest blog this week . . . she is one of my favorite bloggy friends and constantly impresses me with her creativity. Beckie uses Mod Podge all the time, so as her reader you are probably not new to it. The good news is that this project is easy enough for a beginner but also suitable for for a regular decoupager as well. Give it a try!

Halloween is my favorite time of year, and it isn’t that far away. This frame is an ode to my most special holiday. In case you are wondering, those are my pugs. They love being dressed up. Okay, not really, but they don’t have a choice. Let’s start on the project! First, gather your supplies.

FolkArt ® Acrylic Paint, Licorice
Mod Podge ® Hard Coat (it’s what I had in arm’s length)
Darice 12″ x 12″ wood frame with 5″ x 7″ opening
Martha Stewart Scrapbook Paper — Halloween, 1 sheet of 12″ x 12″
Green Ribbon – 2.5 feet
Orange Ribbon, a little thinner than the green – 2.5 feet
Wood Bat Piece
Wood Circle, 1″
Black Glitter
1” Flat Paint Brush
Craft Glue
Craft Knife and Mat
Sharpie or Pencil
Scissors
Mini Screwdriver

Remove the frame stand and then remove the hardware that holds it in with your mini screwdriver. Lay the piece of paper face down and trace the frame opening with your Sharpie or pencil.

You could really cut the window out with scissors, but I like to get all official with a craft knife and mat. Stand back people, I’m a professional! Set the paper aside. Keep the inside piece.

Grab your Licorice paint and go for it. Paint the entire back and edges with several coats of Podge. On the front you don’t have to worry as much, because you are going to place paper down. Only paint around the edges (save paint and time). Don’t forget to paint the stand as well! Let the frame and stand dry.

Don’t forget your wood circle! Grab a little wood circle and paint it Licorice as well. Set it aside to dry.

Time to break out the Mod Podge. This is where it gets good! Start covering the front of the frame with a medium layer of the good stuff. Make sure to get the corners well – you want your paper to stick.

Take the piece of paper you cut and place it down on the frame. Smooth, smooth, smooth! I use a brayer to help me, but fingers work too. Mod Podge may smoosh out the sides, but that is okay. If it does that, wipe it away with your brush. Once all of the wrinkles are worked out and the paper is smooth, let dry for 15 – 20 minutes.

More Mod Podging to do! I started with the back and covered the entire frame. Coated the back, let dry, coated the front, let dry. I then repeated, so I had two full coats on the frame. I also did the stand at this time. Set everything aside to dry.

Remember the paper window I asked you to keep. Please tell me you did. If you didn’t, go fish it out of the trash. You are going to cut one of the circles out of that scrap to put on your wood circle. If you used a different design that doesn’t have circles, go ahead and cut something out that you like that will fit in the 1″ circle. Okay, NOW you can throw away the scrap. Unless you are a paper hoarder like me, in which case, save it.

You are probably still waiting for the Mod Podge on your frame to dry, so let’s glitter. I love and hate glitter at the same time – why? It gets everywhere. Yet it’s so cool, especially black glitter. I make sure to glitter in a very contained area, so I did it on a piece of paper. I Mod Podged my little circle, and then sprinkled glitter onto the wet Podge. Let dry.

I glittered my bat too, on a plate. When both the circle and bat were dry, I was able to save the remaining glitter by pouring it back into the container. Have you ever noticed how you dump out about 3/4 of glitter on a project, but then when you are done and pour it back in, it’s almost full again?

Okay, set the wood pieces aside to dry.

Your frame should be dry. I grabbed my ribbon, laid it out on the frame the way I wanted it and trimmed.

Then I ran a glue bead up the frame.

Smooth the ribbon down. Repeat with the orange ribbon on top of it. Allow to dry for a few minutes.

I then ran a bead in the other direction and repeated with the ribbon in the same way.

When all was dry with the ribbon, I added the finishing touches – glued the circle on, glued the little circle cutout in the middle. . . glued the bat on. . . and then glued the ribbon around to the back of the frame. Leave to dry for a few hours. Now you can replace the hardware. Complete!

THANK YOU Beckie for giving me this opportunity today. Infarrantly Creative is an awesome blog with amazing readers (hey, I am one!). Keep crafting, and come visit me anytime at Mod Podge Rocks for decoupage projects and advice. In the meantime, I’ll meet you here soon to see another one of Beckie’s fantastic projects!