DIY Luck O' the Irish Block

This weekend I decided to make a quick St. Patrick's Day decoration. This DIY block is easy to make and I love how it turned out. Read this tutorial to make your own Luck O' the Irish block.

DIY Luck o' the Irish decor St Patrick's Day tutorial

A craft group I belong to, Creative Craft Bloggers Group, has a monthly craft challenge. Last month we created crafts that had to do with hearts. This month it was my turn to pick the topic for our craft. I decided that we should all create something made with scrapbook paper.

This phrase popped into my head when I was thinking about what I should create for the scrapbook paper challenge. I looked through the wood pieces I had in the garage in my thrift store stash and happened to have a great square block to use. I found some other treasures that I had forgotten about and will be featuring in projects soon!

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make your own St Patrick's block with craft supplies

Supplies Used
Wood block - 7 1/4 -inch x 7 1/4-inch
Scrapbook paper - St Patrick's decorated, green glitter paper, white cardstock
White Paint- Apple Barrel Brand
Mod Podge - Gloss
Mod Podge Craft Mat
sponge
paintbrush
paper trimmer
Cricut Explore Air™

fine sandpaper

NOTE: If you don't have a Cricut machine you can still make this. You can use a stencil to make your letters. Buy a stencil of a font you like and trace the letter then cut them out, or use your printer to print the font you want to use onto the paper you will be using and cut out the letters.

Directions

Put your Mod Podge craft mat down to protect the surface of your crafting area. You can read my thoughts about this mat in the review I wrote here.

1. Paint your block on the sides and the face of the block that you will be applying your paper to. This helps the mod podge stick better to the wood. My wood block was a thrift store craft reject and was lime green, so mine needed a few coats of paint to cover the bright green. If your wood is new, you should only have to paint one coat, possibly two, to cover it.

2. Trim your background paper to fit the front of the block. Using the sponge (mine is a make-up sponge) apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to the back side of the paper as well as the block where the paper will be. This assures that the glue is over the whole area and the paper will stick well.

step-by-step tutorial to paint paper and sand sign

3. Carefully add the paper to the block. You will want to work fast enough that the glue doesn't dry, but carefully enough that the paper is straight and there are no air bubbles between the paper and wood.

4. Sand the edges of the paper with fine sandpaper. This will take off any slight overhang of paper and will give it a slightly distressed look.

5. While the Mod Podge is drying, pick a font you want to use for your letters. I used "Harrington" as my font. I also liked how "Bradley Hand" and "Unkempt" looked, but Harrington just seemed right to me. I used Cricut Design Space™ to design my saying and used my Cricut machine to cut the letters on my green glitter cardstock.

6. With the white cardstock, cut a piece of paper about a 1/2-inch on each side smaller than your block (for me 6 3/4 inch square). Your words will go on top of this paper so they stand out. Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to the back side of the white cardstock and place it in the center of the block so an even amount of the background paper shows on each side.

Mod Podge letters cut with a cricut machine

7. The last step is to lay out the letters where you want them, just to make sure they fit and you like the look before you start gluing. Using a paintbrush, paint the mod podge onto the back side of the letters, then place them on the block. I glued IRISH first, then made my way up the block. I did this because I knew if I started at the top, I would move around the letters below it when I was working, so I skipped the mess by starting at the bottom.