Initial Plaques

I have the entire week off from work (which I am sooo enjoying) and my desire to be creative has awakened. I absolutely love the Initials everywhere for sale to hang on a wall or sit on a special shelf. The other day I happened upon a blog detailing how to create such a cute little initial plaque. Today, Mom and I hit the town, went to Hobby Lobby and shopped 'til we dropped. It's New Year's Eve and I'm sitting at home with the Hubby making plaques and watching Seinfeld reruns...my kind of night actually. Well, here was my starting point for my plaques.

The items you will need are a wooden initial, a decorative unfinished wood plaque or a plaque you pick up at a thrift store that can be repurposed, scrapbooking paper, glue, paint, sandpaper and decorations if desired.

Step One - Sand your boards if necessary.

Step Two - Paint your plaque and your initial in a color(s) to coordinate with the paper you have chosen.

Step Three - Thinly paint on mod podge or glue on the face of the plaque and center your piece of scrapbook paper.

Step Four - After smoothing out any wrinkles in the paper, firmly rub the edges with sand paper. The sandpaper against the edge of the plaque will crease and cut the paper. Then, gently remove the edges.

Step Five - Dry brush the edges of the paper with paint.

Step Six - Lightly brush mod podge or glue over papered surface.
Step Seven - Hot glue your initial to the face of the plaque.

Step Eight - Coat initial with mod podge. Spray a clear coat over plaque.

Step Nine- Attach with a glue gun any bling you desire!

There you've got it!

This one was made for my Sis, Karen. Her nickname is K2 at the office because there are two Karens in the same department. She needed a little pick-me-up this evening so I hurried and finished it and e-mailed her a picture of what would be arriving on her doorstep in a few days.

This one was made for my kitchen or bath. I love red & black and have it throughout our home. I also love a little western theme - I AM A TEXAS GAL after all. It has a silver cowboy hat on the upper corner and a silver pair of boots on the bottom corner.

I've got three more plaques and a door hanger under way. This is such fun and a great stress relief! I used to do a lot of crafts, wreaths, paint, etc., but the stresses of life have gotten in the way. I think it's time my creative spirit shines through somewhere besides in the kitchen! Hope you give this a try!