Summer Bucket Sticks Tutorial

Yaaaay, since yesterday was the Summer Equinox (let’s all meet at Stonehenge next year), it is officially Summer! It’s actually been quite toasty over here in Sunny El Paso for a while now but there’s something about the changing of a season that makes you want to celebrate. Thinking about Summer brings to mind eating messy popsicles, running through sprinklers, munching on watermelon…you know, all the really great things about Summer!

Last year I wrote out a Summer Bucket List on the chalkboard door in our entryway. It was a great way to remember to get out there and experience the world with my children. El Paso weather can be so incredibly hot that it’s easy to get in the habit of staying within arms reach of an air conditioner (if I could sit on it, I would!) Our natural inclination is to be somewhat hermit-like so the bucket list was often a necessary push out the door.

This year I wanted to do something a little different with the bucket list. Maybe something that could be used year after year that I could add activities to as the boys got older? I was at a complete loss until I received a copy of Amy Anderson‘s book, Mod Podge Rocks! to review (come back tomorrow for the full review and giveaway!)

Not only does this book have some wonderful projects and hints on using Mod Podge but more importantly for this frazzled mother/crafter, it greases the creative wheels of your brain and makes you want to find new and exciting ways to use all the different Mod Podge mediums. One look at the book and the idea for Summer Bucket Sticks popped into my head, hope you like it!

Summer Bucket Sticks

Materials:
– decorative printer paper
– summer bucket list (make your own or print out mine)
– Mod Podge
– Mod Podge Dimensional Magic
– craft sticks
– recycled container
– label printouts

Instructions:

1. Print out Summer Bucket List on decorative paper. I used free printables from Un Beau Jour (click on the colored circles at the end of the post) to print the background first and then ran the paper through the printer again to print out the bucket list. I wanted to have three different color schemes so I printed the list three times and just used 10 different ones from each page.

2. Cut out each item from the bucket list. Because the sticks are only 1/4 inch wide, cutting the paper strips can be very annoying. Go slow and don’t worry too much if one is too thin. There’s so many sticks, you won’t even notice it in the end!

3. Using Mod Podge (I’m using the matte version), affix each strip of paper to the wood stick. Cut off excess if necessary. Apply a top coat to seal.

4. Optional: Apply a coat of Mod Podge Dimensional Magic to the sticks to add some…um…dimension. Not necessary but I think it makes them look pretty!

5. Print and cut out our T&T Summer Bucket Sticks labels and affix to bottle and cap with Mod Podge. You will be seriously loving Mod Podge at this point! What can’t this stuff do?

6. That’s it! Once everything is completely dry you can throw your sticks in the bottle and pull one out when you need a little Summertime inspiration!

So, part of the fun of having a bucket list is that at the end of the Summer you have a list to remember all the crazy adventures you had. Since these are sticks and not a list, I wanted some way to display them so I added a few re-positionable adhesive strips to my Rotating Vintage Frame. I can add sticks to the strips as we complete the tasks. Best part….

Completely reusable! When the nights are a little cooler and Halloween is just around the corner (Yippee!), you can remove all the sticks and store them in the container for next year!

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the super fun Mod Podge Rocks! book review and giveaway!