Monday, July 16, 2012

"MAG-NUTS"!

Remember when I got to go to the Michael's stores' big-spender Mod Podge event

I got some cool stuff to play with, including some "Podgeable Shapes," which are plastic medallions you can turn into just about anything.


I knew right away what I wanted to do with them, but I didn't want to pay full price for an atlas (sheesh, have you priced an atlas lately?  I was not paying that just to cut it to shreds, and I have a LOT of projects that need an atlas that I can cut to shreds.)

That last paragraph took me about a dozen takes.  I apparently can not type the word "atlas" without automatically hitting shift and typing, "Atlanta." Every time.  Even just there.  I have to stop (which is crazy, because I type about 100 words per minute, and I am not joking), focus on the keyboard, and specifically type a-t-l-a-s.

When we were in Maine last week we found -- naturally -- a treasure hunt store, and had to check it out.  And I found not just one, but TWO atlases!

So, what do you think?!


These are the Podgeable shapes mod-podged with atlas cut-outs of places that are special to us.

Here's what I did/you can do:
  • First, wait about a month until you find an atlas at Goodwill.  ;)
  • Trace each shape around the part of the map you want to highlight.  
  • Then, cut out the map part -- try to go just a hair smaller than what you traced, if you can.
  • Apply some ModPodge to the map (I used high-gloss, but it really doesn't matter), and stick the map to the medallion.  
  • Smooth the map to the medallion to eliminate any bubbles or wrinkles, and let them dry overnight (map side up).  
  • If you didn't trim the shapes quite as nicely as you meant to, do what I did:  the next day, I went around the outside of each shape with an x-acto knife just to make sure there wasn't any overhang (you can see in the top left one that I took this photo before I did that).  
That's it!   Easy peasy!

We turned them into, as CAM calls them, mag-nuts.  I like them because they are so personal to us.  I'm sure the collection will continue to grow, too!

I especially like this project because they don't look like "oh, a kitschy Mod-Podge project," which so many things end up turning into.

--Jen

6 comments:

  1. This is a great idea!!! I may be stealing this soon. Well, as soon as I can find a reasonably priced atlas anyway.

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    1. Goodwill. $3. That was about my limit! And I got a good twelve magnuts, plus I have the bulk of the atlas still left for more projects. My dad suggested rest stops on the interstate for some free highway maps, too.

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    2. Oh, and I feel like I should say that I am intentionally calling them "magnuts," and it's not that I am illiterate. ;)

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    3. You are probably the last person on the planet that I would think of as illiterate. Ever.

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  2. You should totally be able to get free maps on the interstate as often as you run up and down it :)

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    1. I know, and I don't know how we didn't think of it, except that I had atlases in my head, and when we stop we don't generally stop at state-line rest stops. Maybe on the next trip, we'll have to force that issue a bit!

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