Family Rules

There are many versions of the "Family Rules" sign out there - this is mine!  I love it in spite of it's flaws and thought I'd share it and some of my learnings.

I used a canvas that I all ready had laying around - not sure about the size, but I DO know it was too small.  I had way more rules than space.  If I ever do it again, I will get a sheet of plywood cut long and narrow.

I painted the whole canvas in advance, which was overkill - I could have just painted the edges and would have been fine.

Using a set of punch out letters and my Cricut, I cut out letters to form my rules.  I really wanted each font to be different.  In retrospect, it probably would have been smarter to use fewer fonts and focus more on making sure that they were readable.  I also should have done more planning ahead to match up fonts and background paper - some of the combos are not bold enough and the words are hard to read.

Using glossy mod podge (if I do it again, I will use matte instead - they aren't kidding when they say glossy is glossy), I liberally applied a layer to the top of the canvas with a foam brush.  Working quickly, I added my 1st layer of paper and then mod podged over it.  Still quickly, I applied my letters and then carefully mod podged again.  You have to be careful not to apply the pdoge too vigorously or you will shift your letters and could also tear your background paper depending on the thickness of your paper.  I repeated this process down the canvas, being sure to overlap the background papers.

You will notice that the paper will start to bubble up in places.  I didn't worry about it because in my experience, that always happens with mod podge and the paper will settle on it's own as it dries.  This was a mistake.  I was operating from experience mod podging hard surfaces.  Canvas is flexible and responds to mod podge differently.  You can't necessarily trust the bubbles to go away.  Most of them did, but some did not - you can see them in the pinkish paper (which also happened to be the lightest-weight paper I used).  If I do it again, I will use something firm as the backing and I will avoid lightweight paper.

But again, I like it even with the flaws.  It's nice to have a personal piece of art work and it's perfect to occupy that spot when it's not otherwise in use for some sort of holiday decor.  Basically, the month of January.

In case you were wondering, here are the rules that I used:

• Be thankful
• Forgive and forget
• Be honest and keep your promises
• Be each other's best friend and biggest fan
• Family first always
• Use your manners
• Always do your best