Mod Podge

As an autism mom, I'm thankful for Mod-Podge (a.k.a. decoupage), and here is why:  As a part of Caiti's therapy, she is supposed to get herself dressed in the morning before school.  She has a picture schedule to follow, and at times, we have velcroed pics of different items of clothing on the drawers to help her know what is in them.  This doesn't work too well at my house though because Jason thinks it is way too fun to take the pics off of the velcro and put them somewhere else.  I figured out that I could redo my daughter's dresser in a more functional way that didn't involve little pictures and velcro, just using some fun paper and some Mod Podge.

Mod Podge Dresser Tutorial:

Supplies you will need:

Of course you will need a dresser.  You will also need Mod Podge (or you can make homemade Mod Podge by mixing equal parts Elmer's glue and water), Mod Podge Sealant spray (if you so desire), Scrapbooking Paper, Alpha Punchouts (if you are lazy or have bad handwriting like me...they come in the scrapbooking section and have various fonts of letters you can just punch out and glue on to your projects), scissors, a pen or pencil, a screw driver and whatever embellishments you choose to use.

Step 1:

Remove drawer from dresser.  Using a screwdriver, unscrew the drawer handle and place the handle and screws aside for later.

Step 2:

Measure out the part of the drawer you want to cover.  I used two scrapbook papers per drawer.  Cut the paper to size, spread Mod Podge on the drawer front and carefully place the paper on top of the Mod Podge, making sure to smooth out any bubbling (one website suggested using a credit card edge to smooth out the bubbling).  Once the paper is in place, take the handle screws and carefully poke them through their holes from the inside.  This should leave a small imprint where the holes should be. Then take the screws and forced them through the paper on the outside where the imprints were left to make the holes for the handle.
Step 3:

I decided to add some embellishments to my drawer handles.  I bought felt buttons in different colors and shapes.  They already had holes in the middle, but if they hadn't, I would have just folded them in half, and cut two slits (like an X) and placed them on the drawer handle (as shown above).  I then reattached the handle to the drawer, using the screw driver.

Step 4:

Using a pen, draw a picture of what you want to go into the drawer you are working on.  Cut the picture out, and either cut out letters or use punch-out letters to spell out what will be in the drawer.

Step 5:

Add another layer of Mod Podge, so that the drawer surface will be sticky.  Then place the cutout letters and drawing where you want them to go on the drawer.  Afterward, apply a couple more coatings of the Mod Podge, being especially generous over the letters and the picture.  Don't worry about the white color of the Mod Podge.  It won't look like that when you are done.

Step 6:

Allow the drawers to dry.   You will know they are dry when the Mod Podge is clear.  Once they are dry, follow the directions on the sealant can.  Spray the drawers and allow them to dry before returning them to the dresser.

Finished Product:

here are my sons' dressers.  Can't decide which I like best, but I'm happy with the results.  :)