The Mom I Want to Be

  

 

1. Get a huge canvas. nicole’s was 30″ x 40″. Mine is a little smaller, but not much. Get it on sale please. Paint the canvas (you see the paint on the border and on the sides). it’s best if the canvas is wrapped all around the edges rather than the exposed wood. Just paint it sloppily – no need to be perfect, just make sure all the edges are covered.

 

2. Spend a whole lot of time at the paper store picking out paper you cannot resist. nicole felt some of her papers, although she loves them, were maybe a bit to dark or had too much contrast in them for the final writing to come out really clear. so remember: less contrast, not too dark. Got it?

 

3. Write your rules. Be careful of what you put. My kids often refer to the canvas. My favorite is…”Daddy, hug mommy”. A rule is a rule, ya know? I should have put HUSBAND- MASSAGE YOUR WIFE’S BACK DAILY.

 

 

4. Now, cut that beautiful paper into strips. I varied the widths, used “torn” scissors, scalloped scissors, and so on. Use glue, mod podge, or spray adhesive to lay it out on the canvas. i would definitely recommend mod podge the most on this.

 

5. I then went on to the computer and typed all the rules in different fonts.

 

6. I printed them and “eyed” or copied them onto my papers with black and white paint pens.

 

And here’s where all the questions come in: “the canvas is obviously wider than standard 12 x 12 paper. how did she fit this in the printer/get the words on?” she cut her paper in half – it’s not actually one long strip. you can kind of see it in the pic below where it says “forgiveness is mandatory”. Maybe she taped them together in the middle? I’ve done that a bunch, and if you are really careful it will work and you can still carefully take the tape off when you’re done. Just make sure to change the settings on your computer for your page layout before you print to allow for a larger paper size. When she says she “eyed” them, she did just that. She’d print out the rule in a font she wanted on plain paper, then look at it and copy it with a paint pen directly onto her fancy paper. Most of us can’t do that. She’s just good. But i would still print it on one long strip of paper and go over it again with a paint pen just to thicken up the font’s lines. Just a thought – i think that’s what she did.

 

 

***edited to add!!!: do a layer of mod podge on your canvas, add paper, smooth out, then let dry. then add another layer of mod podge on top to seal. let dry, then add another. it will still probably be a little bubbly.****

 

7. Cover that baby in mod podge, let dry, then hang it!

 

 

 

ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH
HAVE FUN, BE KIND, ASK FIRST, NO FUSSING, NO WHINING
BE CREATIVE AT ALL TIMES

BE RESPECTFUL
ENCOURAGE YOUR SIBLINGS…SHARE IN THEIR JOY
HUSBAND-HUG YOUR WIFE DAILY & WIFE- ALWAYS BE ON HIS SIDE
OBEY YOUR PARENTS
NEVER LEAVE ANGRY

NEVER FOLLOW AN APOLOGY WITH A BUT
SING SILLY, DANCE CRAZY, HUG OFTEN, SNUGGLE OFTEN, SAY I LOVE YOU
KEEP YOUR PROMISES
USE YOUR MANNERS- YES, PLEASE…NO, THANK YOU
ALWAYS GIVE TO OTHERS FIRST
TOO MUCH TV IS BAD…TOO MUCH READING IS GOOD
USE NICE WORDS…IGNORE DIRTY WORDS
CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF
SHARE EVERYTHING EXCEPT BAD IDEAS

DO THE RIGHT THING

BE HAPPY

BE THANKFUL

WORK HARD
HELP OTHERSS
HONOR AND OBEY
SNUGGLE

NO RUNNING, SCREAMING, or THROWING INSIDE