personalized kids art set

During the school year my kids get a lot of invitations to birthday parties. Not that we don’t love going to them, but they start to add up. This year I wanted to find an inexpensive and personal gift for the birthday girl or boy. Of course, this gift also had to be something that my kids could help make since it was really their gift to their friend.

Here is what I came up with. A simple art set from the craft store, dressed up and personalized for the birthday kid. Here's what you'll need:

*Kids art kit (we found ours at Michael's for $1.99--it would be less with a 40% off coupon!)
*Sandpaper
*Mod Podge or other decoupage medium
*Paper, ribbon, stickers, etc. to decorate the cover

1. Scratch all over the outer surface of the art set with sandpaper. I did this so that my Mod Podge would stick better.

2. Create a simple or very ornate cover in the dimensions of the art set. I left an extra ¼ all around.

3. With a foam brush, cover the art set with a thin layer of Mod Podge. Put your paper in place and smooth out the wrinkles with the side of your hand, a brayer, or a credit card. We covered both front and back.

4. Using a nail file, sand the edges. This makes the paper "become one" with the cover. Click here to see this technique demonstrated on another project (scroll down to #5 for pictures).

5. Add ribbon, letter stickers, buttons, etc. to finish your cover. We love the idea of putting the child's name on the cover so it feels really special to them.