I made it through Round 2 of the One Crafty Contest at One Arty Mama. The material we had to use for the project was Washi tape. Before this round I had only heard of Washi tape but I didn’t own any! So, off to Michael’s I went. With my new stash of Washi, a bit of googling to find out how to make stickers out of the tape, and a little neglected side table, I give you the new addition to my front porch!
Now let me share how I made all those pretty flowers! I used the following supplies:
- Washi tape (colors are shown in a photo below)
- Craft punches
- Wax paper
- Sharpie marker and pencil
- Scissors and X-acto knife
- Regular tape
- Spray primer
- Mod Podge
- Acrylic sealer
The very first thing I did (actually my husband, Lee did this step..lol) was spray the metal side table that I found in our back storage with white primer. I made sure that the primer was used for metal. The white color was great for the background, so I ended up not adding any other paint.
I found a flower pattern that I liked online and printed it out three times at the size that would fit my table. I traced the design on three pieces of wax paper with a Sharpie and set those aside to use as my cutting patterns. I then cut out tiny sections of the paper pattern to use as registration marks and taped the three pieces on my table equally distance from each other. Using a pencil, I made very light marks where the center of the flower was and where each petal should be placed. This helped immensely in putting all the tape down later.
Using my wax paper pattern, I added the Washi tape over the leaves and the petals on the opposite side from the Sharpie marker lines. If you place the tape directly on top of the marker, some of it might transfer onto the tape. I then cut out the shapes with an X-acto knife. I cut out every other petal first, and then went back and did the remaining four. By this point, my wax paper pattern was pretty destroyed, so I recopied the stems onto another piece, added a strip of Washi tape and cut them out separately.
The center of the flowers consists of two pieces of tape that I taped down side by side, matching up the pattern. I used a circle punch to create the three centers. For the tiny filler flowers and the orange centers, I used the technique that I found here. I cut the wax paper into two pieces and slightly overlapped them, adding the Washi tape over this overlap. This technique made it possible to get the wax paper off of the tiny petals and centers by creating a little tab on the back. The larger petals and leaves were easier to deal with but I did end up using the tip of my X-acto blade to get the wax paper separated from the tape.
Once I had all my “stickers” made, I taped down the center first, leaving the edges slightly raised. I then added the petals, tucking them slightly under the center. The stem and the leaves followed. I randomly added in the filler petals and their center dots.
The final step with the tape was to add stripes along the edge. I cut 3/4″ strips of tape and placed them around the edge with a one inch piece of painter’s tape as a guide to keep them even.
Since I plan to use this table outside, I had to seal it. I choose to add two layers of Mod Podge first so that I knew for sure that the tape was decoupaged to the table. I then added a couple light coats of an outdoor acrylic sealer for even more protection.
Of course it always helps to see the before and after of projects. I know I love to see the pictures! So a little black metal table I found became a cute addition to my front porch!
Sadly, I am not continuing on in the craft contest but I do love that I was able to get this great table made during the experience! Do you have any “trash to treasure” projects to share? Let me know below!
I link up at these great parties!