Thought I would share my first “Made on” post. I am a hedgehog breeder in Chicago (Jules and I have been introduced ) and have decided to make a series of signs for my door. This is the first one.
What I learned: thin wood warps easily when wet. Glitter doesn’t stick to glue or Mod Podge no matter what the internet says. Advice on glitter adhesion welcome!!!
I edited the hedgehog to remove his feet using Silhouette Studio. The circle is 1/8" baltic birch and the rest is all 1/8" draftboard/MDF. I engraved the eyes and nose deeper than the cheeks, then painted the eyes and nose black with gloss on top, the cheeks I glued fine pale pink glitter to. The birch is stained with a weird acrylic stain that I don’t particularly like and will probably not use again, then lightly sanded to give it a weathered look. I also did a 1 power etch on the bottom shiplap piece to tell me where the letters should go which was a really neat trick a customer told me about.
I’ve already had three of my hedgehog friends ask for their own which is a great feeling.
I agree with deirdrebeth that for this application glitter acrylic is the preferred choice. But for other applications they sell glitter glue. You only need look at the first picture in the linked post to see what it is like.
If you don’t have glitter acrylic:
I would use something like Crystalac Brite Tone over the wood. Polycrylic might work, but I’d test it out for sure. Epoxy if you are inclined to use that (I’m just allergic). I’ve done it before with wood. (And the color of the wood underneath can impact the color of the glitter, so just be aware of that, you can use that to your advantage by finding what you like best.)
(However, I wouldn’t use MDF anywhere exposed to possibly getting wet, personally.)
It is indoors - the interior door from the garage to the house protected by a glass storm/screen door in front of it. So the MDF should be fine. After like 3 weeks it’ll be bubble wrapped and put in a ziploc bag and stored and hopefully I’ll have the next one to put up!
Thanks to all of you for your advice, I will plan the next one hopefully using the advice!
Don’t fret over draftboard (or any MDF). We get a bit of humidity here in Atlanta and I’ve cut MDF door “ornaments” on my CNC and had laser-cut draftboard creations exposed to the elements for years, continuously. Obviously no direct exposure to rain and such.
) and have decided to make a series of signs for my door. This is the first one.
Glitter doesn’t stick to glue or Mod Podge no matter what the internet says. Advice on glitter adhesion welcome!!!
