I have been all over the crafty blogs lately and have been dying to do something with mod podge. I wanted a unique way to hang some individual portraits of my kids and had planned on doing standouts that I saw from my pro lab with a silver finish around the edge. However, they didn’t make them in the size I wanted (12×12), so my wheels started turning… I then thought of wood and mod podge.
I went to Home Depot and found a 2ftx4ft board that was 3/4 thick. I wanted at least one inch, but I settled for the big board because it was only $10 bucks. I had the guy at Home Depot cut my squares to a 12×12 and I got 8 of them! I only needed 4, so really only $5 for my wood (you can share with a friend or save it for another project). My 8 pieces of cut wood below.
Since I was being crafty with my prints, I decided not to pay the extra $ for pro lab prints. I am usually a big advocate of the color quality that a pro lab offers, but with this being my first project, I wasn’t sure if the mod podge would alter the color anyway. I also played it safe by sticking with a black and white print. I saw that Sams Club offers a 12×16 print for about $3 each (wowzers). I made up a layout in photoshop that looks like this:
I slapped a layer of mod podge on the wood and on the picture (not sure why that is necessary, but I read to do both) and then rubbed it on with my hand. After it dried (20 min or so) I did a little sanding to the edge, wiped it clean, then mod podged the top. It gave streak lines–sortof canvas like. I messed up on the corner of my oldest son, but oh well.
Kristen Duke
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Those are great! I just wanted to let you know about a product called Z-gel. That is what the professional framers use to give a canvas texture to poster prints. It is photo safe and used by places like Aaron Brothers, Deck the Walls, etc. Mod Podge is great for alot of things. I use MP all the time. But for photos I use Z-gel. Since you are a photographer you might consider looking into it. You can get posters made and mount them yourself for your clients instead of paying out the nose for canvas prints. Just a thought. I am posting about it tomorrow on my blog if you are remotely interested. P.S. I am enjoying your series on TIR.
oh, very cute! The uses for this idea are pretty limitless, I might use it to decorate my playroom basement with pictures, but I think you could also decorate a nursery with pictures of toys or whatever too. You've got my wheels turning!
These are adorable, were the pics glossy or matte finish?
Hi, I recently bought wood to do this on, but I can’t figure out how to get my picture to a 12 x 12 size. I don’t have photoshop. Can that space that you added to a 12 x 16 be done in picnik, or something like that? I am at a loss as how to get my picture to the correct size.
Any advice you can give me would be sssssssooooooo appreciated!
Hi there! I tried this project with an 8×10 photo and I absolutely LOVED the way it turned out. I made them for family members for Christmas. One downfall…every single one of them bubbled!!! I’m devastated that I have to redo every one of them now. Maybe putting mod podge on both paper and wood makes a difference…because I just put it on the wood.
Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear that! I have done this a few times with great results, but I have heard mixed reviews. Check out mod podge rocks.com and I know there is a video tutorial online somewhere.