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Thursday, June 27, 2013

Make // Mod Melts Shoe Clips


Earlier this month I was given the opportunity to try out Mod Melts, the newest product line from Mod Podge. Finally-- An easy way to DIY your own embellishments! If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you may have seen me tinkering around with ideas for this post. Well, today's the day to share my project!

There are currently two types of Mod Melts; A white Milk Glass and a translucent Sea Glass. I used Milk Glass and was really happy with the outcome. I painted my embellishments for this project, but I also like how clean and simple they look in their original unaltered form.


There are also several Mod Molds available. I currently have the Royal Icons mold, but I've a feeling that the Nature and Flowers molds will soon be finding their way into my craft room. I have a weak spot for owls, butterflies and flowers.  :)


Click "Read more" for the tutorial

DIY Mod Melts Shoe Clips


MATERIALS NEEDED:
Mod Melts*, milk glass
Mod Mold*, royal icons
high temp mini glue gun
small sharp scissors or craft knife
alcohol ink or other decorative paint
cotton swabs
wax or parchment paper to cover work surface
shoe clip blanks
strong adhesive
clear spray paint sealer

*available in Michaels Stores by the end of this month!


INSTRUCTIONS:



1. Plug in your glue gun and insert a Mod Melts stick. Once the glue gun is heated up, fill the silicon mold.**

TIP: If you have a mold with a lot of fine detail (the bees legs, details on the crown, leaves on the laurel wreath, etc.), push the nozzle of the glue gun into the detailed design on the mold and pull the trigger slowly. This will ensure that the melted material gets into all of the nooks and crannies, leaving you with a nicely detailed embellishment.

Let it cool for 10 minutes, then pop the embellishment out of the mold. Easy! If you need to, you can trim off any excess using a craft knife or a small sharp pair of scissors.

2. It's time to paint! Cover your workspace. If you're using alcohol ink, you'll want to use wax or parchment paper since it will soak through craft or newspaper. You can use many types of paints to decorate your embellishment... everything from acrylic paints to nail polish. For this project, I decided to use gold mixative alcohol ink. Shake the bottle well, then drip the ink onto the embellishment, making sure to get it into the crevices.

3. I used a cotton swab to finish covering the embellishment with ink. Alcohol ink dries relatively quickly so it'll be ready to handle in less than an hour.


4. Use a strong adhesive to attach the shoe clip to the Mod Melts embellishment.

**BTW, if your embellishment is large enough, you can skip the adhesive and attach the shoe clip blank to the embellishment when you are in Mod Melts production mode (step 1). Just make sure that the melted material is still hot and pliable before adding the shoe clip. Also, add a layer on top of the clip to seal it in.

5. Let the adhesive dry overnight or until clear.

6. Protect your new shoe clips with a couple coats of clear sealant. I have them clipped to a piece of card stock to protect the clip from overspray.



This is an easy project and a cost effective way to jazz up your footwear! 

With the variety of silicon molds available and the reasonable price point, the possibilities are endless. And if you're wondering how far a package of Mod Melts will get you, I made around 35 embellishments and used less than 4 sticks... So about 10 embellishments per stick. I'm pretty happy with that because I barely made a dent in my Mod Melts stash.

As you can probably tell, I had a lot of fun creating with Mod Melts. In fact, I have another project that I'll be sharing in the next week or two.

If you are looking for more creative ideas with Mod Melts, here are some project ideas from fellow craft bloggers--



You can also connect with Plaid Crafts for more crafting ideas:  Facebook // Twitter // Pinterest // Blog


disclosure// 
I was not paid for this post, however, I received some products for this project from the fine folks at Plaid Crafts. As always, all opinions, photos, and project ideas are 100% mine.