This one was a simple and inexpensive one and I just couldn't resist.
I was on a mission for a basic wooden plaque for a name sign for my nephew Kaiden and I found one at the Dollar Tree. I decided to pick up two at the time and I'm glad I did. I had also picked up a pack of super cute wooden jungle animals from the Dollar Tree. (Chelsea is going with a jungle theme for baby boy Lincoln.).
A few days later, while browsing at Wal-Mart, I found a plain wooden letter "L" on sale for only $.98. I didn't have any plans really for the extra plaque or wooden animals but when I saw the "L", I decided to pull them all together. Chelsea had previously told me she loves lions for Lincoln because he will be a Leo when he's born (she's really into astrological signs).
So this is what I did:
I primed the plaque with white paint and then used a green paint to paint the face of the plaque. For the "L", I painted the sides white but left the front bare. I used the same technique that I had learned for the Mod Podge children's hangers and traced the "L" on some zebra patterned paper, cut it out, and attached the paper to the "L"with a thin layer of Mod Podge between the two. Once it was dried, I trimmed off any excess and took a nail file to file the edges against the wood. (I buy a huge pack of like 30 nail files at the Dollar Tree for my craft projects). This sort of makes the two "become one" and makes the paper more flush with the wood. Then I do two more layers of Mod Podge over top of the paper and along the sides of the letter.
When both the "L" and the plaque face were dried, I used my trusty glue gun to adhere the letter and the lion to the plaque. I took a bit of green ribbon that I had and glued it to the back of the plaque.
And it's finished:
Simple and cute. I hope she likes it. :)
