Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Simple and Personal Mother's Day Gift


This is Chelsi, I am a designer at Wood Creations and I am so excited to show you an inexpensive and simple, yet personal, Mother's Day gift for the grandmother's and mother's in your lives.

First, I chose the heart picture frame kit from the store; this kit is $5.99. I thought this would be a perfect gift to give to my sister in law for Mother's Day as she could put it on her desk at work. I asked her for a 5 x7 picture of her and her kids; the photo will go in the center of your frame, so you will want a 5 x 7 as you will have to cut it into the shape of a heart.

I then chose the paper I wanted for the beadboard and the paint that I wanted the heart to be. I went simple and chose an ivory color and a pretty red designed scrapbook paper. The other supplies I used were a sponge brush, texture cream, sandpaper, white wood glue and Mod Podge. The store carries all of the supplies that I used.

Next, I sanded the edges of the heart for a smooth surface. I then traced the outside of the beadboard heart onto the picture and then cut off the excess. 
Then I traced the outside of the beadboard onto the scrapbook paper by turning over the paper and then cut out the heart shape. Once cut, I lined up the paper on top of the beadboard heart, and used the end of a marker (you can use any round edge) to make a crease where the edges were. Once you have the crease, you can cut along the crease and it gives you separate pieces of paper to put on the heart. You may need to trim off a little more so they fit just inside the line. This just gives it a different look with the paper. You could just keep the frame a solid color if you desire.


 
Next, I painted the back and edges of the heart and the bead board ivory.

Once the paint had dried completely, I brushed on a thin layer of Mod Podge onto the bead board frame and laid down the paper I cut out earlier and smoothed it out with a credit card. Then I glue the picture down on the heart with a thin layer of Mod Podge and smoothed it out with the credit card. Once the glue had dried, I spread a layer of Mod Podge over the top of the paper on the frame to give it a shiny look. This also protects your paper.

I then applied a few coats of texture cream over the photo--this gives it a canvas look and also protects your photo. You will want to use a foam roller to spread each coat over your picture; we sell the cream and the rollers in the store. You will also want to be sure to use gloves when applying the cream as it can stick to your hands. Be sure each coat dries completely before applying another. I applied three coats but two may do the trick. It all depends on the look you are going for.
Finally, once the texture cream had dried completely, l put some white wood glue on the back of the beadboard frame and spread it around with a paint brush and then pressed it down firmly to the wood heart base. 
And here is the final product... a personalized Mother's Day gift that fits perfectly on a shelf or even on a desk. This project is fast and personable and is something I think any mother would love to receive.

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