Water Slide Decal Monogram

Hello Friends!

 

 

I was on my walk this morning and I caught this guy performing his neighborhood watch duties, sitting on the neighbor's curb, keeping everything under control. I feel much safer knowing he's around!

 

 

I saw this project - quite a long time ago - on Martha Stewart's show. It's a perpetual calendar that (I thought) was really cool. They used water slide decals to put the dates on the small tiles. I was intrigued with the water slide decals so I got a few. And then I did nothing with them for about, oh....2 years. But I never forgot them. They've been there, in the back of my mind. Waiting for the right time. And this morning it was...

 

 

To make this small plate (about 5x5), I found a book with vintage lettering and chose one for the decal. After I printed the letter, I sprayed the decal paper with clear acrylic spray to fix the ink (required for ink jet printers only). Fortunately, I tested the decal paper a few times before using the printed monogram. It was a disaster! I'd just cut a corner of the paper off and dropped it into a glass of water, as directed, and the decal shriveled into a gooey mess. I was quite frustrated until I looked at the directions again and realized I had used warm water and let the decal sit way too long.

 

 

I got fresh, clean, cold water, dropped in the paper and watched the decal closely for 45-60 seconds...it slid off easy-peasy! I placed it on the clean plate surface and it slid around like crazy. I centered it, smoothed it, and then gently dried off all the water. Then I messed around with it incessantly until I made it both crooked and dirty! You can see in the first picture where the border of the decal and the little bit of dirt is. Yay me. So my first attempt at water decals was a success...sort of!

 

 

I'm SO close to opening my etsy store...a few more days. I love this illustration - from a 1919 children's magazine - it's one that will be in the shop when it opens. It's perfect timing for the 4th of July which, by the way, is just around the corner!

 

Stay tuned.

 

~ M ~