Over the weekend we had some friends over for a party and did crafts.The most popular craft was the photo transfer to wood! It was really fun and something I think we will do again in the future! How many times have you browsed on Pinterest or any other craft site and thought that you would love to try a few of those ideas, but then they slip your mind or you move onto the next one? This was neat in that we all got to do our own photo transfer to wood and everyone got to take theirs home! It was like a double-whammy because we got to party, hang out with friends and do something fun!
So… how do you do the photo transfer to wood?
It’s quite simple!
Ingredients:
a photo to transfer
wood or panel
photo editing software
laser printer
scissors
gift card/credit card for smoothing process
Matte gel medium
Mod Podge
2 brushes
Rag
Directions:
1. Find a photo that you would like to have printed on the wood. Then use photoshop or another photo editing program to reverse the image. This is particularly important if you are going to have words on the image or something that will definitely be “off” if you print it and it shows up in reverse. For many of our prints because they are often landscapes or objects, we don’t bother reversing it.
2. You will need to pick a photo and make sure it is printed from a laser-ink printer. You can use color or black and white for this process.
3. Either buy wood blocks from a craft store or make your own from a home improvement store. It’s best if you have the same sized board as you do printed photograph.
4. After cutting your photo print to the size you like, use your brush to apply the Matt Gel Medium. Apply a thin coat to the wood surface.
5. Place the wood on top of the photo print, turn it back over and smooth it out with the credit card or gift card (anything with a hard edge)
6. Let dry for about 6-8 hours. Depending on your location you can let it dry less or more… In Las Vegas we have let it dry as little as 4 hours.
7. Dampen your rag (you don’t want a soaking wet rag), and lay it on top of the transfer for a few minutes.
8. Gently start rubbing the paper off. This takes a little while, so be patient. The first layer of paper will sluff off and then you will gently start removing the left over paper with your damp fingers.
9. Remove excess paper from the print with your fingers. Try to get off any of the “fuzzy” looking white remains.
10. Let it dry again!! Almost finished up!!
11. Get your Mod Podge ready for sealing the print.
12. Apply a coat of the Mod Podge
13. All finished up! The Mod Podge will appear white for about 15 minutes until it dries, then it will transform into the print you see at the beginning of the post!
Congrats – a craft complete!
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