Father's Day Pressie Art

NOTE: I can't believe I forgot to take a picture before I gave this to my Daddy...I'll repost later with a photo!

Being a good southern belle, you have to know that my mother and father will always be Mama and Daddy. My Daddy is a quiet man...he says, "I stay out of trouble if I keep my mouth shut." I know the truth though. He listens first and saves his words for the truly profound (kind of like Ferb from "Phineas and Ferb" and Mitchell from "Swamp People" God rest his soul). I wish I had learned to do the same.


My Daddy wants for nothing, which makes gift giving dang near impossible. However, in my Modge Podge addiction, I made something he would truly adore. I started thinking about past gifts I had given Daddy and made a list of the ones he truly loved. Every time, my memory kept coming back to a piece of art I made in college when I was healing from a broken heart. This thing is hideous and reminds me of the sadness that created it. I have taken every opportunity to secretly dispose of it like when my parents moved into my grandmother's home while they built their new home and again when they were moving into their new home. It somehow escapes my clutches like a slippery eel. I have abandoned any hope of disposing of it, mostly because my Daddy loves it so.


For this father's day, I combined one of Daddy's favorites past times, working the daily crossword puzzle, and his attachment to my art (BTW he has pieces from when I was a little girl too...a board with a flowery hillside painted on a plank of wood, a skillet with something on it...can't remember) and created a crossword puzzle using all of his beloveds' names.


Step 1: Tear pages from a weathered dictionary and circle in red the words that matter (love, family, ketchup, etc.).
Step 2: Modge Podge the pages in a scatter on a flat canvas.
Step 3: Coat the canvas in a lite layer of white paint. I went back and swiped over the words with a wet paper towel so that the circled words would stand out a little more. This gave a nice white washed appeal.
Step 4: I googled Crossword Puzzle Maker and found this site. I printed out the puzzle it created and then Modge Podged the puzzle onto the canvas. I through in "family" and "love".
Step 5: Using a straight edge and a pencil, you can draw the grid onto your canvas, use a black paint pen to make it stand out, and then write in each of your names/words. My lines weren't coming out like I wanted so I opted for cut and paste.
Step 6: I slathered on a layer of Modge Podge and let it dry.
Step 7: I went a little crazy with the flourishes in black, gray and yellow paint.
Sep 8: Layer on one more coat of Modge Podge and seek out a frame.