Monster X-ing Yard Sign

 



Friends, I am so excited about today's project and about the materials I got to use to make it!  If you're a regular reader, you know that I heart Mod Podge.  {So much so that my buddy Terry once joked that if I were stranded on a desert island, I'd Mod Podge together some sticks to make a raft and then sit on it crafting until I got rescued.}  Well, recently, I was selected as part of a Mod Podge Halloween campaign.  When I received the box of supplies from Plaid, it's a good thing I was sitting down to open it!  Look at all the goodies inside...



11{!} different kinds of Mod Podge, eight colors of paint, plus a brayer, rollers, a brush, adhesives, and Mod Podgeable shapes!  I couldn't wait to try out every single product...you know I love me some Mod Podge... 

As it turns out, there's pretty much no way to use every single supply in one project, so I had to settle for making several projects instead, the rest of which I'll be sharing with you in upcoming posts.  I love how all of them turned out, but I have to say that my favorite is this DIY Monster X-ing Yard sign.  Here's how I did it, and you can too!

 

Materials: 

Here's what I used from my box o'fun!

Folk Art Outdoor acrylic paints

Outdoor Mod Podge

Sparkle Mod Podge

Sponge Brush and Roller

 

I also needed:

4 wooden craft boards

a dowel

paintbrushes

fabric scraps

google eyes





 

I gave each of the boards three coats of paint and used the Outdoor Mod Podge as a glue to hold them together.

I totally freehanded them, and chose fabric from my stash that matched my paints.  I applied the Outdoor Mod Podge to the back of the fabric, then smoothed the shapes down, getting out any air bubbles.

This was totally my favorite part!  It was such fun deciding what each monster would look like and watching them "come to life."  I wanted them to be super silly rather than scary because Little Crafter doesn't like anything spooky {and hey, neither do I}!  I love that the paints are designed for outdoor use, just like the Mod Podge, so I don't have to worry about the little monster faces washing away or flaking off.  At this point, I also added Sparkle Mod Podge to one of the monsters, and can I just say it's my new favorite product?!  My gosh, I want to sparkle everything!!  It's super easy to use and it has just the right glitter size and ratio!  Little Crafter agrees, saying, "Glitter makes everything better."  So there you have it.

Or, if you're one of those fancy machine-owning types, I suppose you could do this with vinyl instead.  {jealous?  me?}

I just painted inside the indentations my pen made.  The letters aren't perfect, but they look better than if I'd freehanded them and you can't tell from a distance!

 

This was fun because I got to try out the little roller bottle and roll the Outdoor Mod Podge all over everything!  I like how it made a nice even looking surface instead of leaving brush strokes or those stray bristles I sometimes have to deal with on my projects.  It's a great tool for a project with a medium-large surface area to cover.  I added the google eyes on top while the Mod Podge was still wet.

 

 

My sign wasn't particularly thick, so I used glue and a clamp in the back instead of screws.  You may also want to add scrap wood pieces going vertically on the back of the sign on either side of the dowel to help with stability.

 

Step 7: Add your own monster {optional}...

 

I'm loving it.  It's so festive and fun; a great way to decorate for the season without being scary for LC or the other neighborhood kiddos.  What do you think?  Would the little monsters you know approve?

 

Be sure to stay tuned for more fun projects Little Crafter and I have made with our box o' goodies!  He's been working hard to make a one-of-a-kind centerpiece using just about every kind of Mod Podge in the box!  Speaking of which, if you're interested in learning more about the products we've been playing with, check them out on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!

 

 



Happy Fall, Y'all!

 

This post is part of a paid campaign with Plaid and BluePrint Social.  The opinions in this post are entirely my own.