I am not one to toot my own horn but April twisted my arm. I recently finished this VERY easy hybrid project using Jen Wilson's digital products. The idea came from Parent's™ Magazine, where they had published a tip from a reader who clothespins unmatched socks in her laundry room so she'll know where to find them when the mate shows up. I loved the idea but had nothing to clip the clothespin and socks to. So I thought of mounting a decorated board and glueing the clothespin to it. Then I thought it would be sooooo funny if the sock had it's own personal ad and thus the project was born.
Since completing and posting this project on Thursday, I have received more e-mails and private messages than I can answer, so I am posting very detailed directions here so you, too, can have your own little sock keeper!
First you will need to select your piece of wood and get a clothespin. My piece of wood was a pre-cut 6x6 inch square (1/4 inch thick) that I bought from Hobby Lobby (hanging in the wood crafts aisle) for $1.99. I measured the surface area of the wood, which was actually 6.1x6.1 inches and created a new white canvas in Photoshop at 300 ppi resolution exactly that size. I placed the clothespin on the wood how I wanted it and measured the "scrapable area" from the top of the clothespin to the top of the wood. Mine measured 4 inches so on my Photoshop canvas I placed a horizontal guide at the 4 inch mark (View>New Guide) so I would know where to stop scrapping.
Next, I re-sized paper #3 from Jen's Isabella's Laundry Line Paper Pack to 6.1x6.1 inches and drug it onto my canvas to cover it. From there I added the card from Jen's Scrap-A-Dex Card embellishment set and a flourish from Jen's Banner Rub-Ons set which I recolored to brown. Using the same brown shade, I typed my "personal ad" and rotated the text to match the tilt of the card. I saved my image and then flattened it. (Layer>Flatten Image)
IMPORTANT NEXT STEP FOR PHOTO LAB PRINTING: I then opened a brand new 8x10 white canvas and drug my 6x6 scrapped image onto the middle of the canvas, leaving generous white edges on all sides. I saved THIS as a JPG and uploaded it to SamsClub.com to print as an 8x10. If you upload a 6x6, for example, to print as an 8x10, the 6x6 will be enlarged to fill the 8x10 sheet, resulting in an unuseable print. You need to upload an 8x10 with your scrapped item in the center so it will print the size you need. Always select a matte or luster finish when printing for hybrid projects.
While waiting for my one-hour print, I painted the edges of my wood with a khaki tone acrylic craft paint (59 cents at Hobby Lobby) and let it dry. I painted a clothespin - front, sides, inside and back - in the same color.
Special Note: I also scrapped my clothespin by measuring the thin top, creating a new canvas that size and scrapping it. Again, I opened a 4x6 new canvas, placed the scrapped clothespin top on it and had it printed.
After picking up my prints, I trimmed the white edges from my images and used Mod Podge Matte to adhere the photo to the wood, pressing firmly and smoothing out any bubbles. (You'll be surprised how easy this is - digital prints glue to wood very well and without much effort.) I then went back with a dark brown craft paint on a dry sponge brush and "inked" the edges. I would apply smears of the dark brown paint and wipe it away with a dry paper towel. I repeated the same glue & smudge technique for the clothespin.
Once the paint was dry, I hot glued the clothespin to the board (over the digital print) and hung it in my laundry room using one of the 3M Picture Hanging Strips and added my lonely little sock. Project total cost was around $5 and total time, not including driving to get the prints & supplies, was under two hours.
If you make one, be sure to post the finished product in Jen's Gallery and browse through if you'd like more project ideas!
