Smashed Peas and Carrots

~~Enjoy this fun tutorial while I spend some time on maternity leave loving on our new little man!~~

Not too long ago I was the fortunate benefactor of a whole box full of Mod Podge supplies. It was unreal, really, all the goodies they sent out for me to try from Plaid. Take a peek and see for yourself...

There were so many fun new products in the box but a few piqued my interest right away! One of the new products they sent me was Mod Podge: Wash Out for Kids. What the whaaat!?! Yep, it's true. A mod podge formula that kids can use and if they so happen to get it all over their clothes (now who's children would ever do such a thing?) the mod podge just washes right out. Hallelujah! I say. Now this is the stuff dreams are made of, well, a crafty momma's dreams anyways :-)

I grabbed that Mod Podge: Wash Out for Kids and a few other fun new supplies that Mod Podge and Plaid have out now and little Miss Penelope and I got to crafting one afternoon while little sister napped and big brother played outside. She is just like her momma and loves a good crafty project!

We decided it would be oh so fun to make necklace and keychain pendants since Penelope is waaay into wearing necklaces and jewelry these days....and fingernail polish, and dress up clothes, and, well, you get the picture. She is almost 4 and it seems that age for girls just pushes them over the edge in the accessories department! Want to craft some with us? Okay then, let's do this thang!

Personalized Jewelry Pendants

Mod Podge: Wash Out for Kids

Mod Podge Podgeable Shapes

Mod Podge Tracing Templates

Podgeable Papers or Scrapbook Paper

Foam brush

X-acto Knife

To make a personalized jewelry pendant (for a necklace, keychain, earrings, zipper pull, etc) you will need some new products from Plaid. First you will need their new Podgeable shapes, these are so neat. They come in the perfect size for making jewelry pendants and some of them in each pack also come with an eyelet to place a necklace chain or jump ring through. Second, you will need the Mod Podge Tracing Templates. These work perfectly in conjunction with the Podgeable Shapes. Each template is sized so that you will be able to trace the same size in the Podgeable Shapes....cool! No guess work needed!

Here is a closer look at the new formula Mod Podge: Wash Out for Kids...coolest product ever! Especially if you have little ones who love to craft!

You'll also need scrapbook paper or the new Podgeable Papers from Mod Podge. These papers are also pretty darn cool since many of the prints are sized perfectly for the Podgeable shapes and Tracing Templates...everything works together so nicely, ahhhh, I love when that happens! You'll want a foam brush to apply the mod podge as well as an x-acto knife to help cut out the paper templates you trace.

Real quick, here is a look at what one of the Podgeable Papers looks like. This paper is from the Nature series. There are a few different series available and each one is loaded with 4 pages of 6 different sheets so there is plenty to use and choose from.

Okay, so what you need to do is grab your templates and punch out the middle of the ones you are going to use. Then just place the template on top of your paper and trace the shape. Then cut it out with your x-acto knife...easy peasy! Now, I did the x-acto knife portion of this project with Penelope as she is only 3 1/2, so not exactly an x-acto knife friendly age yet!

Then, you can let your kid(s) paint the Mod Podge onto one side of the Podgeable shape and apply the piece of paper they chose to have cut out on top of it so that the right side of the paper is facing the mod podge. We let ours dry for 15-20 minutes and then I let Penelope apply a second coat of Mod Podge to the backside of the paper. Then we let it dry for a few hours or until the Mod Podge wasn't tacky anymore. This last part will depend upon how thick you applied that last coat of Mod Podge!!

Once the Mod Podge is dry, you can add a your necklace chain or a jump ring to the eyelet and then your choice of jewelry. Penelope chose to use elastic cording for her necklace and then she also made a necklace using a thicker white necklace material for her baby sister (what a sweet kid!) She even made one pendant to be used as zipper pull. You can also attach a keychain to the jump ring for us grown ups!

The finished product! She was, and still is, so happy!! Hooray, she made her very own necklace!