For those of us who love pretty paper and don't have the patience for scrapbooking.

If you know me in real life or have been reading this blog for awhile, you're probably well aware that I am a stationery addict. Any kind of pretty paper good is my crack. I have a REALLY hard time resisting its allure, as evidenced in this post. As such, sometimes I end up buying, oh I don't know, 180 sheets of designer cardstock:

I'm pretty sure this paper is intended for scrapbooking, but that's not really my style. I have neither the patience, nor the inclination to scrapbook. So I found myself with yet more paper and no idea what to do with it. After my little makeup jar update from the other day, I started thinking about how I could use this paper in my decorating. Most of the patterns in the pad are fairly modern (there is a LOT of chevron) and each page is quite large (12x12"). I had 2 quick brainstorms about how to use this paper to a) make the permanent aspects of my space a little more me, and b) make functional but unattractive aspects of my space look a little less cluttered and more put-together.

Here is the first project I came up with:
Covering old wooden shelves:

As I've shared before, this is not a permanent space for me - I'm only here for a year, and as such, there are aspects of the space that I can't change drastically because they will be staying part of the space when I leave. These shelves are one such feature. Pretty country, right? They were built for me when I was *maybe* 8-years-old. Needless to say, they're not exactly my style these days. Unfortunately, removing them altogether isn't an option because some of the wall paint stuck to the shelves and now there are patches on the wall underneath the shelves where the paint has peeled. Unfortunately, there's no paint left to patch it up. So, my first plan was to use some of my new cardstock to update the shelves.

First, I took each shelf off the wall (they have little notches in the back to rest on screws) and cleaned it.

Then, I measured the front panel of the shelf and sketched it out on the cardstock. Because the shelves were longer than the 12" of cardstock, I had to attach two pieces together, making sure that the pattern lined up, like below. Once the pattern was lined up, I used a glue stick to attach the pattern in the right spot and cut the whole thing out.

Then, it was as simple as using some Mod Podge and a foam brush to attach it to the shelves. I brushed the back of the paper and the front of the shelf with the MP and carefully placed the paper onto the front of the shelf. You have a couple of seconds to adjust the paper into the right position and smooth out any bubbles before the MP gets really tacky.

Then, as per the instructions, I gave the MP 15 minutes to dry, and then applied another coat over the top of the paper. Here, I was especially careful around where the two pieces of paper were attached. I made sure to smooth the brush in the direction of the paper glued on top and not the opposite direction, which would push the glued paper back up. (Does that make any sense?) After another 15 minutes, I applied a second top coat. 

I probably waited an hour after that before reattaching the shelves to the wall. Apparently you should wait 24 hours before using whatever you've Mod Podged, but a) I don't have the patience and b) I figured they would be okay because the modpodged part of the shelves wouldn't be touching anything.

So here they are, in all of their modpodged glory:

What do you think? Obviously, this probably wouldn't hold up if they were high-traffic shelves, but in this case, I think it makes for a simple update that makes the space feel a little more like mine while I'm here.

Before & After

Check back tomorrow for Part 2 of my cardstock project: a post on how I used this paper to make a functional but cluttered aspect of my space look more put-together.