Paint Chip Mosaic

First of all, can I just say how excited I am to be a part of {Junk in their Trunk}!? Aren't these girls just a blast?! As soon as their brother introduced me to the family, I knew I wanted to be a Gubler sister! Now here I am! I married their youngest brother two months ago on June 25th. I am so happy to be a part of the family!! For anyone who cares to see who is talking to them, I thought I would share a few wedding photos! I love looking at wedding photos, and I figure if you're reading {Junk in their Trunk}, you may as well be family!

Second, please don't judge my tutorial photos! I just moved into an apartment with terrible lighting, and my external hard drive is still hiding in a box so my computer's memory is too full for me to even edit a photo's color balance! (I am actually a photo major, so I'm a bit self-conscious about it!)

Now, time for my first tutorial!

I first found and fell in love with this project over at Hope Studios. As soon as I saw it, I just knew I had to make one for myself! I hope no one who is reading this works at the Home Depot, Wal-mart, or Lowe's paint department, because they will all start realizing where all their fabulous paint chips are disappearing to!

Materials Needed:

• Plywood or wood panel (Mine is 2'x2' pine wood panel) 
• Paint (Optional if you want a painted border-I did not)
• Stain (I used a dark walnut color)
• Paint chips (I used 49)
• Spray adhesive
• Modge Podge Matte-Mat
• Foam brush
• Rag

If you are feeling intimidated, don't!! Seriously, this is surprisingly quick and easy!

First, you'll either need to pull out your old paint chip samples, or go on a paint chip raid at your local hardware store. If you don't have a Home Depot or Lowe's, chances are you will still have a Wal-mart and they have loads of paint chips even at my local small-town store. You can pick as many different colors as you'd like, or stick with different shades of one color. I did mine in blues, yellows, and greens to pull in my husband's and my favorite colors. Be sure to get more than you think you need in case you make a wrong cut or decide to swap out colors. For this project, square chips will look best so I picked out chips that already had straight edges, and then cut one side to make it square. (I suggest using a paper cutter instead of scissors to keep the edges straight.) When I made my cuts, I kept the whimsical paint names and numbers, but if you don't like that idea, that can be the side you cut off. (You could technically do this same project with squares of scrapbook paper, but paint chips happen to be free and one of my favorite things!)

Once I had all my chips cut, my husband shuffled them over and over like cards to get a good random "pattern". I have such a hard time with random! I am an art major and I over-thought every chip. Do your best not to do that, or it will drive you crazy and it will haunt your dreams at night. Not that I know. Hmmm.. Anyway, Lay out all your squares to make sure you're happy.

In the Hope Studios tutorial, she painted the border black. my husband likes natural wood, so we decided instead of using paint, we would try using stain. I used just a foam brush to paint the stain on, then a rag to wipe the excess off. Keep in mind, you will technically only need about a half inch to an inch of your wood to be stained or painted.

Make sure you also get the side edges of your board! If you use stain, instead of rubbing the stain, just dab on the sides, otherwise your rag will leave fuzzies behind!

To make the paint chips stick to the board, spray a line of spray adhesive. Any brand will work. I picked the cheapest at Home Depot. Just go line by line, lining up each square with the ones around it. They should stay straight and tight together, but if you find space between them, don't stress! They'll look just fine after the last step.

 I found covering up the previous paint chip row helped so they didn't get get dirty or sticky while spraying the next line of adhesive. If you simply spray the whole board at once, your hands will get very sticky while trying to lay down more squares, and the adhesive will start to lose it's stick.

(Like the action shot my husband took?) Make sure you rub down each paint chip. If you don't, the corners may start peeling up after it is dry.

After the adhesive dries, paint on around three layers of Modge Podge. (I used half a smallish bottle, because that's what I had.) Don't be afraid to pour it on right over your chips! Make your strokes interesting, because this is what will give your piece its unique texture.

After you let this dry overnight, rub stain over the top. I was terrified to do this and then ruin it, but it is what made the piece. It only took about two minutes and quite a bit less stain than I thought it would.

Brush some stain on, and then rub it in with your rag! Make sure to get it in all the grooves. This is what will bring out the fabulous texture you made with the Modge Podge. If there is an area you want darker, just let the stain dry and rub some more on!

Once you are done with your board, you can either put a mount on the back to hang it (type and style will depend on how heavy your board is), or simply lean it up on a shelf or on any other area that needs the pop of color or height!

 

I love this project! It is so versatile! You can make it in any size and color scheme you like, and it is something that really anyone could do!

Tell me what you think, and show me what you create! If you like this, don’t forget to link up with {Junk in their Trunk}!

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