words – A Smith of All Trades

Mushy post alert!!

Ew, mush. I know. Just suck it up haha. This one’s quick!

I’ve seen this cute graphic design art floating around Pinterest for some time now that lists a couples’ most significant dates in their lives together. I made one a while ago but completely forgot about it. Then I opened it up and realized I didn’t like it. The white background was boring and the fonts were sorta lame-o.

This is a great inDesign project for any beginners because it is simply manipulating text boxes and choosing fonts. Nothing too crazy. I picked out our dates (I made one up because I’m not really sure when it was haha) and placed each date in its own text box. I pulled the text box edges to match the edges of the paper, then centered everything.

Then, in a smaller font, I labeled what each date was. I dragged the edges again to the outside of the frame and centered the text.

In a second layer, I added some scrolly embellishments in the corners and along the sides, fading the transparency to 20 percent.

And finally, on a third later, I added a color to the background (same as the accent text and scrolls) and faded it to 10 percent transparency.

See, doesn’t that sound easy?

Significant Dates

I definitely want to frame this one for our house. It’s simple and elegant, and it’s a eye-catching way to remind ourselves of our most special dates in our lives together. Speaking of which, 2014 will be a whole decade for us! Holy smokes.

If I find a fancy frame, I might just print it on a white background, minus the swooshiness. Here’s how that looks.

Fonts used: Baskerville (date), Albemarle Swash (explanation), Soft Ornaments Eights (swooshes)

TGIF.

I picked up this mini chest of drawers months ago when I went to the local art store closing. Originally $9, I paid $2.25 because the whole store was 75 percent off.

It’s been sitting in my craft room for months. MONTHS. And I’ve been so good at getting rid of things and tidying up my space down there — I’m so close — that each time I looked at it I wondered why I bought it in the first place and if I should just donate it to Good Will.

Well, I’m glad I kept it around because I was finally inspired to tackle this project and I love how it turned out.

1. Buy a little wooden chest of drawers at any craft store.

2. Remove the drawers and paint the outer structure of your box. I painted mine with chalk board paint.

3. Remove the little wooden knobs to prep the surface for Mod Podge.

4. Mod Podge paper or fabric onto each drawer face. I used sheets from a dictionary, making sure to choose pages with illustrations on each one. Place a layer of Mod Podge (I used glossy) on each drawer, then the dictionary page (already cut to size), and then one last layer of Mod Podge. Smooth out the bubbles (I used my fingers) and let dry. Then do one last coat of Mod Podge to give each drawer face a nice seal.

5. If you’d like to, paint the rest of your box. This probably should have gone with step 2, but whatever. For my box, I lightly brushed on my black paint so you could still see the wood grain through it. I also painted the edges of each drawer face so the black carried through and it looked a bit distressed. Paint your knobs as well, then re-attach with wood glue and a small hammer. They should fit right back into place.

6. Let everything dry overnight, then put your chest of drawers back together!

Tag: words

Significant Dates

Mod Podge Jewelry Box

Rate this:

Share this:

Like this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Like this: