Okay...the craftiness continues- Paint chip art

So I saw THIS that was made over on the cheap by a crafty blogger who had see it on a blog... who had probably seen it on a blog, but I am only going back two links!

So here is a shot of it made over from  Life Crafts and Whatever, which is where I saw it...

this is the one at MODGE PODGE ROCKS....and I like the darkness on the sides a little better...

So I going to make one.  I think I will like it a lot and make more than one, but the first one is going to be a birthday present!  I know DARING!  Anyway, Deanna's bday is just around the corner and I am going to make one for her, but I am going to include a few of her wedding shots too!

So Hubbie and I went to Lowe's, I picked out paint chip colors that were kind of muted,

I also used the browns and golds and blues of her wedding. 

We paid more for a higher grade plywood.  If I am going to make more in the future I can buy a whole sheet of plywood and get it cut into the size I need, making this project even cheaper.

I got a spray adhesive... I am hoping brand doesn't matter because I got the cheaper one and I figured with all the layers of modge podge it would be fine...

I got brushes, which I had some but went ahead and bought a few more.

And I got a stain, I choose Ebony, which is what both the above blogs used, I liked that it was dark.

I don't usually shout the cost of my presents from the rooftop but I am going to today! With all the supplies we bought, it was 27.00.  I have modge podge at home and am hoping I have enough!  The stain and spray adhesive will obviously last me MANY projects!  The board like I said before will end up being cheaper if I do it a different way.. I just wanted to attempt the project first!  Oh and the paint chips were..FREE!

I have to get a few of her wedding pictures printed, so that will be a few dollars at the most!

Step one:

sand the sides of your board and paint.  I chose to use brown paint which I already had.

Step two:

figure out the pattern you want for the paint chips, lay them all out.  Life, crafts and Whatever made the point of making sure to number the cards because her cards got out of order at some point.

Step three:

spray adhesive a few at a time and lay on board.. repeat until finished.  this was unsaid on the other blogs, but our spray adhesive said to spray both sides (the board and the paint chip) in order to get a permanent bond) so we did a light spray on the board and also sprayed the backs of the paint chips.  I was able to after placing the paint chips on the board still move them around for a minute of two, which was nice.

Step four:

cover with modge podge.. let dry and do a total of three layers of modge podge.

Step Five:

paint strips of the stain on, wipe it off and repeat several times, let dry.  Again focus on areas that you think need more stain, making sure to get in the cracks between paint chips.

Step six:

ask your wonderful husband to attach hardware- but only buy it so that the receiver of the gift can decide if they want to use it!  :)

ENJOY--- or give away as a birthday present to enjoy!

I do like it better without the pictures and will be making more.. it looks better in person.  I still would like it a lot darker around the edges and might email the second blogger to see how she did it. I also am not completely in love with the pattern, although I like the colors.

BTW.. Deanna liked it and requested two more!  :) YEAH!