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Friday, September 3, 2010

Photo Plate and How to Avoid My Mistakes

I'm really excited that I got my Photo Plate to come out before we leave for our trip to visit family in Mississippi this weekend.  This is for my mother-in-law who I know will love it.  She has a lot of family photos all around the house.  This one of her 4 grandchildren taken in June is a keeper!

I followed Fawnda's great tutorial, but I had a couple of issues.  This is the third iteration of this plate, but I didn't give up!

Here's what I did:

I washed and dried a clear glass plate that I found at Wal-Mart for $3.  I printed out a photo in black and white on regular paper and placed the photo on the back of the plate, upside down.  I spread a thin coat of Mod Podge all over the plate and then laid down my fabric.  After a few minutes I put a thick coat of Mod Podge on the back of the fabric.  Once it was dry (an hour or two), I cut off the excess fabric and put the plate on a stand.

Here are a couple helpful hints to keep you from making my mistakes.  This is an inexpensive project.  I spent $9 for the plate and stand.

First, I didn't read Fawnda's tutorial well and made a 5x7 copy of the photo.  Here I am trying to decide which fabric went best.  I was trying to use fabrics I had on hand.

I put the Mod Podge on and then added the photo.

The problem was, the Mod Podge streaks didn't dry.  After several hours the photo still looked all streaky with glue.

Then I re-read the instructions and remembered it wasn't a PHOTO but a print-out on regular printer paper. 

So I started again.  I had the same glue streak problem.

Here's a close up.  I just wasn't happy with it.  Maybe I used too much Mod Podge?

So I tried one more time.  This time I did not put a layer of MP on the plate, I just laid the photo down and put Mod Podge all around it and on the back of the photo before laying my fabric down.  This worked perfectly!

No streaks!  In addition to a decoration, I hope Carolyn will use this as a cookie or treat plate too.  If she just hand washes the glass, it should hold up well! 


4 comments:

Fawnda@Fireflies and Jellybeans said...

That is so cute! Great job!

You were right... my first layer of mod podge was VERY thin... but it seems to work out better not to even do that first layer at all! I am glad that you go it to work! I am so sorry it was frustrating for you!

Thanks for the linky love! : )

Lisa said...

This looks really cute! Thanks for showing us all your trials before you got the one you liked. It's always nice to see that everyone isn't perfect : )

chris said...

Fun project. The best part is that you know you're mother-in-law will be happy. I love making things for those I love.

Unknown said...

Turned out great - so sorry you got frustrated!! At least it came out wonderful in the end. :D