A gift for my mother

I wanted to come up with a perfect birthday gift for my mother. It is difficult to find the gift for the person who has everything they need, or goes and buys what they need when it arises. On Christmas, I learned that my husband had yet another hidden talent. This didn't surprise me completely, but he never ceases to amazes me. He is very good at cutting out silhouettes, and his Christmas gift to me was beautiful silhouettes of our children. They were much more beautiful than the ones I had found on etsy, and I am considering creating an etsy site myself to sell these treasures. I wanted to do silhouettes of all of my mother's grandchildren, but I wanted to do something in a subtle way. My mother has a classic taste and I would never presume to take over her decorating. After searching high and low for small oval frames without success, I had an idea. I remembered a precious gift that was sent to us months ago. My husband's grandmother sent me her wedding portrait a few months ago and I found it interesting that a thick layer of resin had been applied to it. It had an antique quality and beauty to it I had never seen. I decided to make white plaques, apply the black cut out silhouettes and then coat them with a thick shiny layer of resin to give them an antique quality that is rarely seen. Here are some photos:

painted plaques

Daddy with his sweet silhouette of Buttercup

modge podged

curing after resin applied (takes about 48 hours) After I sanded the backs of the plaques once again (the resin will bubble in the back and sanding is necessary to flatten it up again.

add brackets Are here are the finished results prior to wrapping and mailing home to my Mama for her birthday:

That's it. I can't say there were not a few mishaps, such as finding the plaques in the size and shape I liked, and then ruining it with painting on a cardboard box...ugh...then having to find 6 more like plaques with a proper shape (I wanted oval or something of the like, not round or square)...The rein is costly and so you have to be very careful to pour it and spread it evenly, without letting it bubble. I will probably create an etsy site for the silhouettes, because Daddy really does an amazing job at cutting them out and creating a likeness that is beautiful. I will let you know if I do. Enjoy!