Two weeks ago Mr. NtJS and I did some major work to our kitchen (that is another post all together). When I went to put the light plate and outlet covers back on I realized that they were no longer the right style for the kitchen. What to do? Break out the Mod Podge!

I decided that the best and cheapest way to dress up our light plates and outlet covers was to decoupage them with some fun paper. What I used was "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" book that I found at a garage sale for $0.25. The bright bold colors matched our new kitchen counter tops and wall colors perfectly.

We're posting this today so that you have this entire long weekend to funkify every switch plate in your house. Got them all removed? Good. Now let's go.

Cost: $5.00 or less.

Time: 5 minutes not including drying time.

Skill Level: Beginner

Materials needed:

• Smooth light plate or outlet cover (try to match the color to that of the paper you are using)
  
• Paper (children's book, vintage ad, etc)
• Mod Podge (decoupage glue)
  
• Foam brush
• Exacto knife (be sure you have sharp blades)
  
• Clear acrylic spray
  

Instructions:

1. Cut- Lay your outlet cover on top of the paper you are going to cut. Using the outlet cover as your template cut an extra 1/2 inch on each side.


2. Glue- Next put a thin layer of Mod Podge on your outlet cover and a little bit heaver coat on the back of the paper you are using.


3. Attach- Place the front of the cover face down on your freshly glued paper. Carefully turn right side up and smooth out any wrinkles or air bubbles.


4. Glue- On the back edges of the cover add a thin layer of glue. If the edges of your paper need more glue, then add some now.


5. Smooth- Wrap the edges of your paper around the cover and add more Mod Podge as need to keep your paper wrapped around. Allow glue to dry for 10-15 before moving to the next step.


6. Cut- After allowing the glue to dry turn the cover upside down on a flat surface. Using your knife cut either an "X" shape or slice like a pie to curl the rounded corners. Then turn right side up and carefully cut an "X" into the screw holes.


7. Glue/Smooth-After cutting add some glue to the back of the cover and smooth out the paper while gluing it to the back of the cover. Let the cover dry until it is no longer tacky to the touch.

8. Spray- Once the cover is dry move to a well ventilated space and spray your cover with two or more light coats of acrylic spray to protect it from being damaged.

9. Completed- After the acrylic coat dries your done! You can put it on your outlet just like you would any "normal" outlet cover.


Overall Project Grade: B+

Project Notes: One of the things that I found as I worked on this project is that paper with a lot of white on it did not work as well as a patterned paper. Maybe it was just me, but when I sprayed the acrylic on it made the finish uneven. Other then that it was a great project.

I did enjoy this project and am hoping to do it again as we remodel more of our home.
Has anyone else tried this project? How did it turn out? I'd love to see photos! E-mail us your photos and they might just end up on our blog...

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