I promised y’all a tutorial, and I’ve finally gotten around to doing it! Yay.
Author’s personal collection!
I made this one for Mini CC. She was dying to have one for herself.Likely, she’ll lose it in a few days. But until then, it is her mostcherished possession.
I want to preface this by saying I didn’t come up with this on my own. I purchased a kit from Annie Howes on Etsy and supplanted her chiyogami paper for my pictures. I’ll show you how easy it was anyway!
You’ll need:
- Glass scrabble tiles, available here
- Bails, available here and lots of other places
- Diamond Glaze, available here
- E-6000 jewelry adhesive, available here
- Mod-Podge, available at any craft store
- Sponge paint brush
- Pictures, or paper of your choice
- Toothpicks
- Newspaper, or something to protect your work surface
- Vinegar
- Lint free cloth
- Scissors
- X-Acto knife or blade, whatever
Okay, on with the tutorial!
If you are working with paper that has inkjet printing on it (like Iwas), you need to seal your paper. This is where the Mod-Podge comes in.
I just dabbed a bit of Mod-Podge over each mini picture and let it dry.
Next, rinse your tiles in a 50/50 vinegar and water mixture. Vinegarhelps pull the lint off. Wipe the tile clean with a lint-free cloth (Iused an old one from the eye doctor).
Check out Mini helping Mom out. Really, she just likes to see herself on my computer…
There are two sides to the tile, a nice smooth side, and a roughside. Coat the rough side with a generous amount of Diamond Glaze.
I’m not left handed…it’s just easier to take pictures with myright hand, seeing as that’s what side the button is on. You get theidea!
Now place your tile over the area you want to feature.
I have no more witty comments…
Now you have to find something else to do, cause that baby needs todry. I let mine dry overnight, but that’s only because I got busy doingsomething else and kinda forgot about them. They dry in about 30minutes. I let them dry for a while with the paper down, and thenturned them over and let them dry paper side up.
When they are nice and dry, grab a pair of scissors and cut away asmuch paper as you can. I used a nice sharp small set of craft scissors,and got most of the excess off.
Hi Granddaddy!
Use an X-Acto knife to shave off any excess paper you can’t get towith the scissors. I used photo paper and found that the layers wantedto peel apart.
When you are happy with the way things look, add another generouscoat of Diamond Glaze to the back of the tile. I made sure to seal theedges too, just in case those layers wanted to peel up some more.
Let that dry.
Okay, we’re almost done!
It’s time to set the bail. I found this to be the most difficult part of the whole thing.
My tube of E-6000 was one of those awful metal tubes that kept squirting out glue after I stopped squeezing. Argh!
I used a toothpick, scooped up some glue, and dabbed it on the hatched part of the bail.
Sorry for the blurry picture… see toothpick coming from the right? That means I’m using my left to mash the shutter button!
Place the bail where you want it. Don’t stress too much aboutwhether or not it’s centered. That E-6000 stuff takes a while to dry,so you have some time to move it around.
I adjusted it a few times, until I figured it was centered enough, and then I used a clean toothpick to press the bail down.
Once again, let it dry!
Yay! I plan to tie mine around my bouquet on a ribbon.
