my DIY decorated melmers! + written tutorial! you can do it too!

Hi guys! I’m very excited to show you my newly decorated JetMax cubes AKA Melmers! I spent a lot of time decorating this and I am so happy with how it turned out.

(I am planning on showing you the contents of my drawers in the coming weeks when I receive all my swap packages.)

Are you ready to see them??

Love love love love love. 

I told Leslie I was making it animal print and she said "Animal Print?! You?! Nah!" 

Haha! How right was she?

I am a sucker for brightly colored animal print. It is no secret.

I put little squares of black glitter paper into the handle just to add a little more glitz :)

I am so happy I did this. It is so freakin' cute.

:)
Should I want to spice it up a bit, I can also arrange it this way:

I prefer it the way I have it now but sometime I might want to change it up.

Do you guys love it as much as I do? 

Now I just need to fit all this:

And all this:

Into the drawers. Haha. I'm probably going to keep the blue tower next to my melmers just for bigger things and supplies and stuff.

Oh, and you'll also want some shelf liner so your bottles don't slide around:

I bought 2 rolls of it at the dollar store for $1 each. 

And now the best part, you can do this DIY decorating project too!

I’ve written in-depth instructions in case anyone else wants to do this but doesn’t know how.

You will need:

-Paper of your choice. It should be scrapbook paper or thin cardstock. You can use just one or as many patterns as you like. I couldn’t find anything long enough to fit the face of the drawer, so I had to improvise by doing two-toned drawers. The drawers are about 13.5 inches long. Look for paper that big. If not, find coordinating paper and do what I did!

-Mod Podge. I used the Matte version which I think is best for this project, as the rest of the cube is a matte finish. You can also use glossy. Your choice.

-A brush or foam brush. A foam brush leaves less brushstrokes, but I didn’t have one. My brushstrokes aren’t bad. I think it is a cool effect.

-An old gift card, for smoothing the paper.

-Pencil, ruler, exacto knife, cutting board – for measuring and cutting your paper.

-Sand paper or large nail file.

-Paper towels and tissues for wiping up messy Mod Podge.

-Patience.

Step 1: Cut out your papers. It is best to line them up against the face of a drawer and figure out how big they need to be. Making it a bit wider on every side than you need is a good idea. You can trim it after. Just a few millimeters too big. Cut all your papers first.

Step 2: Make a template for the screw holes. Mod Podging the paper over the screw holes is obviously going to hide them. To be able to find them again, I made a template. I lined up a piece of paper with the top corner of one of the drawers, and then poked through the paper into the holes. That is your template. This way, when they are dry, you are able to line your template up to the drawer and poke through your decorated paper into the holes.

Step 3: Begin Mod Podging. You want to put a medium layer onto the front of the drawer, and then put a thin layer on the back of your paper. Your paper will curl at first but it flattens easily. You smooth the paper onto the drawer and line it up so it is all covered. Remember, leaving room around the edges is a good thing because you know you won’t miss any spots. At first it will slide around easily but it dries quickly. Pay attention to the edges and corners.

Step 4: Smooth out the wrinkles. This is how you avoid bubbles and wrinkles. You take the old card and start scraping over the whole drawer. Keep scraping more than you think is necessary just to make sure. Again, pay attention to the edges and corners. Glue will probably come out at the edges but you can just wipe that up. Once it is all adhered, you leave it to dry for a few hours. At least one hour.

Step 5: Your drawer must be totally dry to move on to this step. Take your exacto knife and very slowly/carefully cut away the excess paper around the edges. This is easy to do but you need to take it slow. You can rest the blade along the sides of the drawer and just slice off the overhang.

Step 6: Sand the edges. You want to sand down, away from the front of the drawer to avoid lifting the paper. You don’t have to sand much, just enough to remove rough edges from the paper and any dried glue on the edges. I used a large nail filing block for this which was really convenient.

Step 7: Pop the holes for the screws. Use the template you made, line it up, and pop through the paper with something pointy like a very small dotting tool or toothpick.

Step 8: Top coat of Mod Podge. Make sure your layer underneath is very dry. If you live in a hot climate you might want to wait a day or more. Make sure you don’t get any bristles from the brush or anything into your layer of Podge because it will be visible in the end.

Step 9: Let it dry. Again, hot climates will need longer drying time. Pop holes through the second layer of Podge and then attach your handles.

Step 10: Admire your work!!

(Optional Step 11: Cut pretty paper rectangles to fit into the windows of the drawer handles.)

I hope this helps at least one person. Haha!

I got my paper (thin cardstock) at Michael’s for $3.99 (24 sheets) and my Mod Podge Matte formula at Walmart, $5.69 (8 ounces.) My glitter paper came from Michael’s and I believe one sheet is $2.99 or less.

If you decorate your melmer, show me!! :)