A little bit of love...

My sister recently got engaged after many years of dropping less than subtle hints to her then boyfriend. I am genuinely delighted for her as I know she will enjoy the whole wedding planning thing - especially the trying in of wedding dresses as she has been dreaming of a wedding for at least the last ten years when our mum got remarried and she hoarded my mothers discarded wedding magazines for months afterwards!

I wanted to give them something that was unique for an engagement present that they would be able to put on a shelf in their new flat (which they hope will materialise in the coming months).

I have spent quite a few months experimenting with decoupage and papier mâché letters that you can get. I love letters that spell out words in a house (though I have been banned from having any of these in our house) so I give them to other people.

This particular set of letters came from hobbycraft and was boxed (but could be purchased separately).http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/hobbies/papier-mache/mache-letters-and-numbers

I gave them two coats of red acrylic paint. The papier mâché absorbs a bit of the paint and needs quite a thick layer so the brown doesn't show through. The next problem is how you leave them to dry. My advice is place them on a tiled surface that won't stain... I left mine on newspaper so had to go over the places where the newspaper had transferred on to the letters.

To give the letters a bit of a nice finish I lavishly brushed on some Mod Podge   which comes in all types of sheen such as Matt, gloss and shimmer. It is inexpensive for the amount of crafts it enhances and it especially great for sealing and for decoupage.
  I then left the letters to dry for 24 hours.
I am an impatient soul at times so this is probably the hardest bit for me!

When it is fully dry apply your sequin hearts. Mine came from pound land I think and around this time of year glitter hearts are ten a penny with it nearly being Valentine's day. I stuck the sequins on with super glue. Other glues would probably be suitable but I don't like to leave anything to chance.

Again leave everything to dry and hey presto! A 'Love' sign. An exciting and creative present or
valentines gift if you wish.

Please let me know if you try this. I will let you know if my sister likes it. Fingers crossed, she 
will!

Mod Podge link: http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/plaid-mod-podge-matte-8floz-236ml/569311-1001