Z is for Zeta

Last letter. Last Pinterest Challenge. 

I thought about making something out of zucchini. Meh. I tried to find a craft, but all I found was Zentangles, which are very cool but which I did a couple of years ago (you can see how I accidentally drew a vagina on the Zentangle drawing I made for the post).

I randomly searched through Pinterest, and one thing led to another and naturally, I wasn't even LOOKING for a "z" project anymore when I ran across a previous search for sorority crafts.

I happen to have a daughter in a sorority at the University of Arkansas. Her sorority happens to start with a...

Z!

Of course, I couldn't find any DIY crafts; pretty much all I was coming up with was Etsy products, so I decided to make my OWN project, and if you're looking for an easy sorority craft, I've got one for you.

I bought some wooden (or maybe wood-LIKE) letters (and I am fortunate that my daughter's sorority doesn't have a pi or a phi or a delta in it and I could get the letters at a plain ol' craft store), a fresh bottle of Mod Podge (who really uses up a bottle of Mod Podge before it dries out, anyway?), a couple of sheets of pretty scrapbook paper (only needed about half of one, but better safe than sorry) and a bottle of craft paint that matched the paper.

I traced the letters onto the scrapbook paper and VERY VERY CAREFULLY cut them out with my VERY VERY SHARP craft scissors. I sprayed the backs of each paper letter with repositionable adhesive spray and then stuck them on the letters, making sure there were no bubbles or wrinkles in the paper.

See me utilizing the straight edge of
the paper for the top of the T?
Work smart, not hard!

I turned the letters jelly-side down and used a VERY VERY SHARP Xacto knife to trim any paper that was past the edge of the letter, then flipped them back over and painted a thin layer of Mod Podge over the paper.

Truth: when the Xacto knife scraped
the edge of the wood instead of cutting
the paper, it set my teeth on edge.

VERY VERY THIN coats of Mod Podge.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

After about the fourth coat of Mod Podge (I let each coat dry about 20 minutes before applying the next), it occurred to me that I had not painted the edges of the wooden letters, and that was a rookie mistake, because then I had to paint them VERY VERY CAREFULLY so I didn't get paint on the paper.

Ugh. Idiot.

While the paint dried, I added one more coat of Mod Podge.

And it was done. I had a craft that was just as pretty as anything I might have found on Etsy:

I took the letters to my daughter this morning, and....

SHE LIKED IT! HEY, MIKEY!

This is probably one of my favorites, and it's not even a real Pinterest win. Just a win! She even asked if I would make a set of them this fall to give as a gift when she gets her "Little"!

And thus ends my 2018 A to Z Challenge.

Peace out.