J is for Jonathan

My friend Kristina asked me a while ago if I could make a cute little sign for the door to her son Jonathan’s room. I told her sure! Just pick out whatever materials you want and I’ll see what I can do. So she went to Hobby Lobby and got an MDF letter, a wood plaque, and a bunch of different types of scrapbook paper for me to choose from. I felt terrible because she actually brought all this stuff to me months ago but it wasn’t until this weekend that I finally got around to making it, but my guilt is gone now because it actually turned out really cute!

I picked this green chevron out of all the paper she brought me. I like how the smaller scale is a little more subtle than the bigger, bolder chevron that you see more often. Plus I knew that I had some green paint to match!

I started by peeling the label off the letter J and painting both it and the edges of the wood plaque green using some craft paint that I’ve had in my stash for years.

I carefully cut the paper to the size of the flat part of the plaque using a straight edge and a ruler, then used mod podge to affix it to the wood. Unfortunately, when I applied another layer of mod podge over the top to seal it the paper bubbled up and wrinkled and I started frantically trying to smooth it down and ended up ripping the paper.

Luckily, the paper was only 50 cents and I knew where it had come from, so I stopped by Hobby Lobby while out running errands and picked up another sheet. I came home and tried it again, this time applying a super thin layer of mod podge and trying not to freak out when it bubbled up. Instead, I walked away for an hour and was pleasantly surprised when it dried perfectly flat! I applied two more coats, letting it dry for a couple of hours between each, and ended up with a smooth and wipeable surface that looks really good.

All that was left to do then was glue the letter J onto the plaque! I used superglue because it was handy but hot glue or regular craft glue would work just as well.

To make it hangable, I popped the tab off an empty can (let’s pretend like it wasn’t a beer) and hot glued it onto the back. It’s actually much sturdier than one might think! If you’d rather not hang your hopes on hot glue, or if you don’t want to put a nail in your door, you could also hang it with one of those Command picture hanging strips. I asked Kristina which she would prefer and she voted for the can tab because it meant she wouldn’t have to go to the store to buy Command strips, haha. My kind of girl.

It’s hard to come up with cute stuff for boys, but I kind of love the way this project turned out. Plus it’s not so babyish that it wouldn’t also work for a big kid room. Chevron is really trendy right now and who knows if we’ll all be so over it in a few years, but other than that I can totally see this still being a fun addition to Jonathan’s room when he’s five or even ten (gosh I cannot imagine our babies being ten!).

Tweet

2 Responses to “J is for Jonathan”

  1. Sarah June 12, 2013 at 9:45 am #

    So cute! I too wonder if chevron is too trendy, but I love the skinny pattern. It won’t go out of style.

    • Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap June 12, 2013 at 9:57 am #

      I loooove the skinny chevron. Glad you like it too!

Leave a Reply:

Gravatar Image