Trial and errors with Mod Podge

I have been working on a number of crafts to give to the church craft bazaar in two weeks. Most of the crafts have nothing to do with stamping at all. (the reason I have no new stmaping items to show lately) This is one project I was hoping to make for them, but it has turned into a big learning tool for the future. There are too many mistakes and imperfections on here to give it to the church craft bazaar, but it is good to show you what you can and CAN'T do if you try and make one.

The first thing I learned is to use something other than newspaper to protect my table. Newspaper is my standard table protectant. Easy to clean and always available in my house. When you are working with Mod Podge though the newspaper can become stuck to your project and does not peel off. The picture covered most of it well, but there are dirt smudges all over the bottom area.

I do like the cookie sheets that I got at the dollar store. When I was done I could peel the excess glue that was not on the paper, but on the cookie sheet itself. It does make me nervous that later the paper will peel from the cookie sheet also.

When you use the Mod Podge and white or vanilla paper, be sure your hands are clean. Wear gloves if possible. Any dirt I got on my hands from the newspaper would get into the Mod Podge on my project and give it little dirty spots.

DO NOT USE CLASSIC INK IF YOU PLAN TO COVER IT WITH MOD PODGE. The ink will run and give a faded look. Afterwards I did go back with a marker and color the letters in "christmas" back in. It helped a little, but I still had to seal the ink afterwards with a spray. It is best to use craft ink or emboss your items first before coating them with Mod Podge.

The flowers and leaves are cut out of paper. These went on easily and look very nice.

Don't be alarmed if your paper bubbles up a little when you cover it with Mod Podge. As it dries it work its way out on its own. Be sure to coat the item with a good layer of Mod Podge before putting your paper down, this will help it to stick better. It dries enough to hold the paper very quickly so be careful when placing it, so you don't have to try and move it.

The numbers are also cut from paper. After the letter fiasco I had to try something else. I stamped the numbers in versamark onto the Real Red cardstock. I cut them out and adheared them to the panels with Mod Podge. The number panels are actually chipboard coasters cut in half. I covered them in Old Olive cardstock. I them put a panel of Very Vanilla on top and the number on top of all that. Each layer was put on with Mod Podge. I like how these turned out and next time will do all the letters this way. There are pieces of magnet on the back of the number to hold them on the sign. The extra number go on the other side of the sign (what is actually the top of the cookie sheet).

The crop-a-dile went through the top edge easily to tie the ribbon on.

I hope my trial and errors helped you as you think about talking a project with Mod Podge.