A is for Alex

My niece, Alex, turns 3 in early April. She was born on Good Friday, actually! My sister, Brooke, saw my monogrammed "H" art last week, and requested one for Alexandria for her birthday. Alex is learning the alphabet, and loves the letter "A" because she knows Alex starts with A.

Now, who am I to deny a request like that?

This is basically the same as last week, but not exactly. For starters, I wanted it smaller- I felt the big old 16 x 20 was probably over kill. Also, I didn't use any paint, so the entire thing is covered in scrapbook paper. I picked up 2 pressboard type "art" works at Dollar Tree, one smaller than the other by about an inch all around.

I grabbed a 2 pack of the letter A at HobLob last week, and picked out the scrapbook paper I wanted.

What You'll Need:

1 sheet of 12x12 Scrapbook paper
2 sheets of 8x10 Scrapbook paper
2 pieces of lovely dollar store "art", one smaller than the first
An Initial, Number, or Design made from wood
Glue
Mod Podge
Ribbon
Stamp Pad, markers, or paint
Sand paper

Cost- $3.52 for the paper & dollar store products, and the A. The ribbon was $2 and $.33, but such small amounts used, maybe $.25 total. The other items were all on hand.

I'd estimate this project can be done for $4 or less, depending on what all you have on hand. If I'd had bright colored paper, that would have knocked just over $1 off the cost. The letter was cheap- it was a 2 pack for $.99, minus 30%, so I got it for about $.69, divided by 2 for the cost of 1.

I started off by sanding the surface of both pieces, as they had kind of a slick, glossy finish. Make sure to wipe all the dust off.

For the top, smaller piece, I used 2 sheets of scrapbook paper- 1 solid color, and 1 floral pattern. I cut the solid color to size for the board, then I cut the patterned piece about 1/2 an inch smaller all the way around.

Spread Mod Podge over the surface, and add the first sheet of paper. Once it's dry, mod podge over top of it, and add the second sheet of paper, centered. After that is dry, add one more layer of mod podge to seal it.

For the letter A, I didn't have any bright colors of paint, so I improvised. First, I stained it with a lavendar ink pad. Then, I colored the edges with markers. Yep, tricky, I know. The only thing I don't love, is that in some places, the marker bled onto the top, just a bit.

I then glued the A onto the top board, and set to work on the bottom one. Again, spread Mod Podge on, and smooth the paper on, cut to size. Spread another layer on top of that. I don't know if the board was slightly off, or if I was, but I wound up with a tiny sliver showing from the bottom layer. I opted to sand down the edges to distress them, so that it didn't show.

Once it's dry, glue the top section to the bottom section, centered. Now, for me, the bottom piece came equipped with a pretty light blue ribbon to hang it from. If yours doesn't, you can easily add this with a good stapler, or you can use a traditional hanger on the back.

My last step was to add some ribbon. I just picked up a really cute spool of striped ribbon, so I made a loop, then used darker pink thin satin ribbon to tie it off, and add a bow. I hot glued this to the surface, then glue tacked the ribbon trails down.

 

  

  

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