Oh the Things Modge Podge Can Do! *3*

So it was some time ago that my mom gave me a couple of black bookshelves which were nice and all, but for my own tastes what I really thought would be cool would be something on the brighter more colorful side. I had successfully painted a couple of white

bookshelves in the past, and so I thought that I would challenge myself by giving one of my black shelves a makeover. What you see in the pictures is the final result, which turned out well enough that I don't think you would have guessed that it had originally been black. What I first did was paint the whole thing over with several coats of pink paint. The paint did not have any fancy gloss finishing to it, so even after numerous coats of paint it still looked sort of dry and unfinished. That was when the idea of using modge podge came in. If you don't know, modge podge is basically an adhesive that is sold in jars in the craft sections of many stores like Wal Mart or specialty craft shops like Hobby Lobby and Michael's. People often use them as a final sealant over paintings or projects to give that final glossy finishing touch. There are numerous varieties of modge podge, some being totally clear and others having a slight tint to them. I chose the rose tinted kind as I thought it would go well with the pink base that I had already put on the bookshelf. The tricky thing about modge podge is applying it so that it dries as evenly and as clearly as possible. The thing to remember is that applying modge podge to things is basically like painting on glue, so it will dry on thick as is, often times resulting in a streaked appearance. This becomes even more apparent when you apply the tinted kind. To get around this I thinned out the modge podge with some water. When you do so you might think at first that it looks too runny, but I've learned that modge podge can never be too runny and usually the runnier the better. Diluting it with the water thins the adhesive out and results in an even glossy coating to finish off the project. The gloss definitely did make the shelf look more finished, though some areas were a bit streaky from some earlier trial runs with the modge podge. So...to give it that final FINAL finishing touch, I added a red blotched pattern with paint all over, used the same paint to

color the frame, and then spread a little bit of glitter paint all over. The result: an awesome bookshelf to proudly display your most girliest things! *3* I chose to use it for holding some of my shoes, especially the ones with more color, patterns and bling. I think that it adds a nice glamorous touch to the bedroom. <3