Mod Podge Mania - not quite scrabble tile pendants

Aaaaaand we're BACK! Oh, how I've missed thee Mod Podge Mania! I've missed the challenge of completing a project each month to share, as well as the inspiration that comes from seeing the projects of others! Let's not part ways again, mmmkay?

This month's project has a little back story. Please bear with me. I have a sweet friend in my life, who is very young (23) and going through a real trial in her life. More than I've ever had to deal with, and especially at such a young age. A while back when she was really feeling heart-broken and discouraged, she posted a song on her facebook page. The name of the song was "A Little Bit Stronger". Knowing what she was going through, and listening to the song really tugged at my heartstrings. I sent her a text and she told me she was trying to be "a little bit stronger". I knew I wanted to give her a Christmas gift that had those words on it. I was thinking a piece of jewelry. Well we were on a pretty tight budget for Christmas this year, and a piece of hand-stamped, or engraved jewelry was just not in my price-range. I decided to look for a tutorial on making a pendant myself. I of course first hopped over to Tatertots and Jello and immediately found a post which contained a link to this tutorial. I decided that this was the way to go. However as Christmas drew nearer, and I still didn't have all the supplies I needed (some are really hard to find!), I decided I needed to improvise. And that is how this project came to be. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the pendant before I gave it to her, so you'll just have to imagine how fabulous it was, okay? And she loved it BTW, and wears it all the time.

I had waited too long to order scrabble tiles online, so I decided to see how these would work. They are a little bit bigger than scrabble tiles, and also thinner. I love the different sizes, I'm going to make some bigger ones next time:

There are places online that you can order printables to use for your pendants, but I think some fun scrapbook paper is all you need, if you already have some on hand.
For pendants that say something specific, all you need to do is type it up yourself and print it onto some colorful paper. This is what I did with the "a little bit stronger" pendant.

If you decide to print up your own, and only have an ink-jet printer like me, make sure to spray some of this over the ink, and let it dry. This will keep the ink from smearing when you apply the mod podge over the top.

Which, by the way, is not called for in the tutorial, but I love working with Mod Podge, and decided to see how it would work out instead of using the craft glue to apply the paper. It worked like a charm. I applied a layer of Mod Podge to the wood square, and then placed my paper on and smoothed. Next I turned the square over, and used an X-acto knife to trim the excess paper around the wood. Then I turned it back over and added a layer of Mod Podge on top of the paper.

The tutorial calls for something called Diamond Clear, but Jen wasn't able to find any, and neither was I. She recommended this, and I love how it worked to add a top glossy coat over the pendent.

These little buggars are hard to find. I only had one small package, and my girls used all but one, so only one pendant is completely finished...so you just have to use your imagination for the others...okey dokey?

You can order them online, but I haven't gotten to it yet, so I used the last one for my first pendant, and then just strategically placed ribbon for the pictures of the other pendants. Pretend they're all finished though, will you?

I apologize for the horrible pictures, but it was night time. I did use the flash on this next picture, just because I wanted you to get a better view of the cute print of the paper I used.

Remember how I am always looking for anything with my initial? I actually have 2 blog friends who have made me "x" pendants for my birthday - and I love them. But I can always use another, right? They are all very different.

I love this pretty branch print - and especially how it looks with the brown ribbon!

You can also use the ball-chain necklaces for your pendants, which is what I did for the "a little bit stronger" pendant - I think they look great both ways.

Just a few tips if you decide to try this:

The tutorial says to use a light box for tracing. I don't have one, so I just eyeballed it. My graphics aren't perfectly centered - a lightbox would definitely solve this problem.

The tutorial says to use super glue to attach the silver bail to the pendant. I read in the comments that someone said E6000 works better. It doesn't. I learned the hard way and will start using the super glue from now on.

I adhere the paper with Mod Podge, let it dry, then attach the silver bail before applying the Triple Thick. Then you don't have to put any pressure on the finish by trying to glue the bail on afterward.

So I showed you mine, now you show me yours. Please tell me you've got a project to link up! I wanna see!

Remember to please link back to this post and make sure to visit as many other links as you can and leave them some comment love!