Big Fat Letters!... a mod podge photo project

Dear Diary,

Last week was Parker June's 2nd birthday- Parker is my niece.  What should we do for her birthday? Like many 2 year olds, Parker has plenty of toys and clothes... plus, she will soon be a big sister so they need room for the new baby.  This was a perfect oppurtunity for us to create a personalized gift!  I chose a craft that both my kids could help with (2 and 4 years old) and they were so excited to present Parker with her new "P".

[singlepic id=42 w=320 h=240 float=left] Parker happened to be over while we started the project, so as not to ruin the surprise, we asked her to close her eyes while we started  working on it:) Thanks for cooperating Parker.

 

Here are the supplies you will need:

Letter(s)- I bought this big letter at my local fabric/craft store: JoAnn fabrics. (about $10 less a coupon).  Smaller letters work just as well but the big one makes quite a statement on a kid's wall.

Photos- I went to the kodak kiosk at Target and printed about 5 of the cutest photos of Parker off of her parent's facebook.  It is very convienent to have access to their albums at my fingertips- and you know they had some great ones!

Scrap paper- You only need a couple sheets.  It also works to use pages from a magazines.

Scissors and other cutting tools- This craft is not an exact science.  You can tear things and you can punch out designs (as we did).

Mod Podge- (one of my top 3 favorite craft tools!) You can get it at any craft store.  This project uses about a half of a big jar of this stuff. Matte or glossy works.

Paint brushes- wider stiff ones are best (TWSS... 1 inch- 3 inches wide) and sponge brushes work too.

Space and time- find a nice big area to work and lay down some newspaper to work on.  (I didn't do a good job of this and got "in trouble" for getting crap all over the front porch- oops.)

Patience- Let the kids be involved!  Let all of your type-A tendencies go.  Allow the art to manifest how it may.  In the end, if anything looks shotty, blaim it on the kids.

Steps to Creating this one of a kind piece:

1. After your gather your supplies, the first thing you want to do is decide which photos you want to include on the letter.  Let the kids chose from a few.  I put one photo at each end and one photo at each intersection of the letter.  For the "P", we used 4 photos: one of mom, one of dad, one of Parker and artsy distorted one photo.

2.  Lay the photos where you want them on the letter.  We decided on cock-eyed angles as opposed to straight up and down.  Take your scissors and make cuts into the photo so that you can wrap the photo around the edges of the letter.  You are going to feel like you are ruining the photo at this point. No worries.  Fold the photo and make the crease hard on the edge of the letter with your fingernail.  Lift it off the letter and cut along the creases to create the new shape for this photo that will fit nicely on the front.



(There are endless ways you can decide to arrange the design.  Keep in mind that the smaller the piece, the better than mod podge will keep it down.  I have tried to wrap the photo around the letter but the it wouldn't stay folded and the mod podge dried too slowly.  You also might want to print on normal paper as opposed to photo paper.)

3. Next cut up your scrap paper.  Mea (4) is into cutting straight lines so she went to town on a bunch of strips of paper.  I had a little star punch so we started to make a million stars that would be added as finishing touches.

3. Now get ready to get sticky and dirty.  Pour your mod podge into a bowl, its easier to get at like that. Eva (2) loved this job.

4.   Get a generous helping of mod podge onto your brushes and start to wipe it on the front of the letter. Grab paper and photos, slap some mod podge on the back of them and start to stick them down.  Again, we chose to make our design be on angles (more room for error) and wrapping around the sides, not straight up and down. (note- somehow we got out paint that ended up on Eva's forehead and everywhere else, but all part of the fun!)

5. Wipe the mod podge all over the front of the scrap paper and photos.  Avoid air pockets, press it down with your finger. smooth is out with your fingers and nails.  Add more mod podge, and more and more and more.  You might get worried again that this is not turning out- the mod podge goes on thick and white and it WILL DRY CLEAR.

6. Let it dry and then put on another layer. Repeat until you are happy with your final product.

P is for Parker! It is hanging in her room above her new big girl bed! Happy Birthday Parker June!

Here are a couple more letters that my cousin made for my girls! (shout out to Lindsey)

This is a really fun project.  If you make a letter or are inspired to do something similar, let us know!

Hire us to make a letter for you- approx $30 plus shipping.

Sisters for Sale!  As with all of our crafts, if you don’t have the time or skill, but you have the money, email us and we are happy to take orders for one of a kind items.  If you live near us (Novi, Michigan or Boston, Mass), we’d be happy to arrange a demonstration where we lead others to creative bliss.