Christmas Countdown Blocks
Prepare your blocks:
1. Sand each of your blocks until smooth. You can round the corners if you prefer.
2. Paint each of the blocks with as many coats as needed to get the color you desire. Allow to dry completely.
3. If you want a distressed edge you need to do that now. Once the mod podge is on you won’t be able to. You distress your blocks by sanding some of the paint off the corners and edges roughly.
Mod podge the paper squares:
1. *optional* Before you begin applying the paper you can choose to ink the edges to give them a more dimensional look. If you’ve never done this before practice on some scrap paper before you try it on your paper squares.
2. Paint a coat of mod podge on one side and allow it to dry for a few seconds to make it tacky. Smooth the paper square on by rubbing from the center to the edges. Make sure you remove any air bubbles and the paper is completely adhered or it will cause rippling in the paper later. Do this for each side, one at a time, until all the paper squares have been applied.
Mod podge the numbers:
1. Apply the numbers in the same way.
· Block #1 should have the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
· Block #2 should have the numbers 0, 1, 2, 6, 7, 8. The 6 will double as a 9.
2. I would suggest that you set out the numbers for one block at a time. It’s really easy to get them mixed up, and really hard to get them back off!
Finishing up:
1. Apply the ‘Christmas Countdown’ to your base the same way you did the paper squares. Even though you’re only putting paper on the front I would suggest you mod podge the whole block. It will give it a shiny finish and it won’t look even if you don’t do the whole thing.
4. After everything is applied, and thoroughly dry, apply one or two more coats of mod podge to seal it. You need to allow these to dry at least overnight before stacking them or they may stick together.
