HAT STANDS AND IMAGE TRANSFERRING

Be Patient, Modge Podge Must Dry!


Whenever I make water slide decals I have to print several pages to get my sizing where I want it to be.  This leads to this - pages of fast draft graphics. I get all my graphics for projects  here at The Graphics Fairy.  Karen also has a very informative post in her DIY tutorial section on 12 different methods of transferring images .   Thank you Karen!!!

Since I test print in fast draft, gray scale mode (to reserve ink) these are rather grainy and light.   I have used these extras to make tags for my booth space, given them to the grand kids, experimented with some, but I never toss them out.  I keep all my print offs in a file folder for easy use.

Well the other day I was making hat stands for my booth space and wanted to embellish them a bit with water slide decals, so I pull out the folder and select a decal,  it didn't work, I tried another, same results (for some reason they kept crumpling up).  I think the shape of the candle stick hat holder was creating a problem.

Now enter Modge Podge, it was on the counter from another project.  I wonder...will those fast draft copies work with Modge Podge.  I've had trouble in the past where the ink has blurred a bit and that was on a normal print mode that disperses more ink.

Yes they will work but first off you need to apply Modge Podge only to the backside of the image and to the object it will go on.  Carefully set image and let this coat dry, then use two light coats  of  Modge Podge, drying thoroughly between each. This method will probably not work with really large images, but the small ones come out fine.  I thought this lady in her fancy dress and hat was just perfect for the hat stand.

While I had every thing out I decided to do up a few more items for the booth space.  Here I used tissue paper print offs to embellish this metal lamp part that I was altering into a hat stand.  Tissue paper is a challenge to print and to Modge Podge.  But the results do pay off. 

I decided to move this one while it was still wet placing my thumb into the middle of the transfer. Unfortunately small pieces adhered to my thumb...so to save the piece I gently scratched away the outside edge and a few more places in the middle. I think I saved it quite nicely!

You also might notice that I used a Gesso technique of Rosemary's over here at villabarnes.  I love how the gesso adheres to metal and the texture you can achieve.   I have some picture frames waiting in the wings to be done using Gesso.

Then I moved on to candles....

Got out my Friskars "Deckle Edge" scissors to give the bottom left image a torn edge look.

I also use my sewing gauge to mark a straight edge distance from the bottom of the candle. Eyeballing it doesn't work for me. A small pair of sharp scissors really help when cutting tissue paper.

The top one is cut with deckle edges scissors. I like how it looks "torn" without having to actually tear the tissue paper.  I wanted a more uniform square.  The far right (again, I touched it to soon) I had to trim away a portion of the black edging on each side, I waited until it was completely dry and did this quite easily with a Olfa knife or you could use a  razor blade.

This was my first attempt at Modge Podge on candles. I have previously tried using my rubber stamps and permanent ink and rolling the candle across.  I did not especially care for this method as mine never quite dried and smudged when touched.  I have also tried stamping my own tissue paper and applying with a heat gun hair dryer.  I do like the results and I was able to apply other embellishments to the soft wax of the candle, such as the jewels in the crown below.  For sale in my booth I wanted a more secure way of attaching the jewels. 

The hat stands and the candles are all finished and ready to go to my booth space. 

Hats off to you!  Thanks for stopping by, until next time...