Thursday, September 1, 2011

"Snow" Decor With a Tutorial!




I really don't want summer to end, but with all the cute holiday craft supplies coming into the stores lately, how can you not get into the holiday mood?
My sister and I got together and made these super cute decor items for our homes, and I made my mom one as well. They're super fun to make!
The patterned paper is a flocked cardstock from Doodlebug, the glitter is Doodlebug and MS Crafts, and the rhinestones are Doodlebug and craft supply.


The letters are cut from wood and sanded. Then, for letters that are covered in paper, we traced the paper using the wood as a stencil, and then cut out the paper a little smaller all the way around so there would be a painted edge around the paper. Then, paint the letter with acrylic paint using a sponge brush, let the paint dry, and apply Mod-Podge to the front of the letter using a new sponge brush.

Place your paper over the Mod-Podge and then smooth over the entire piece of paper with a credit card or a vinyl applicator to get out any air bubbles. Make sure the Mod-Podge gets all the way to the edges to seal the paper down. If you don't have enough Mod-Podge on the edges, add more. If you have plain patterned paper, you can then brush Mod-Podge over the top of the paper as well. This paper has flocked circles on it, and I didn't want to cover up the flocking, so I didn't Mod-Podge the top of it.


For letters that are not covered in paper, you'll need a clean piece of newspaper. Rub the newspaper all over with a dryer sheet. This makes it so that you can keep all the excess glitter and put it back into it's container, otherwise it'll have so much static that it will cling to the newspaper and never come off.

You'll want to do the next process with one letter at a time:
Paint the entire letter except the front with acrylic paint. Allow the paint to dry completely (this will keep glitter from sticking to the sides and back). When it's completely dry, paint the front of the letter with the same acrylic paint moving the brush from the center of the letter to the borders (this keeps new wet paint from getting on the sides). While the paint's still wet, hold the letter over the newspaper, and DUMP glitter all over the front of the letter.

Tap the letter onto the newspaper and watch the excess glitter fall. You can't tell as well from the photo of the "S" as you can with the top photo of the "W," but all the letters except the "N" are COVERED completely with glitter!

Then you just wait for everything to dry and embellish however you want to. I used wire and wood snowflakes, which are also covered in glitter, and also "Snow in a can" that you can find at the craft store. It's a "paint on" realistic looking medium that I applied by bouncing a popsicle stick up and down to get the cute "peaks." Try it! It's a super fun project and all the neighbors will "oooooh" and "aaaaaah" at your cute creation.

I'm heading out of town until Monday with all my kids. We're going camping with grandma while Daddy sits home and works (boo!). Have a great weekend!

5 comments:

  1. I love this! Did you cut the letters yourself, or did you buy them somewhere? I would love to make a few sets this winter!

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  2. I bought the letters pre-cut at "Wood Connection" in Salt Lake City

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  3. Hey, would you ever want to do a give-away on my twin blog?? You could give away something cute and they have to like your blog and like mine. Like a cross-promotion?

    -Nicole
    www.twinsfortheshow.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the snow-on-the-letters look. Super cute!

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  5. Nicole- that would be fun. Call me Tuesday or leave a message on facebook. I'm out of town until then.

    ReplyDelete

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