Magnetic Glass Whale

Internet's working again!

I know, took long enough.  You'd think that the exorbitant amount I'm paying to live here would mead adequate internet, but no.  Finally, though, it's up and actually letting me load pictures, so maybe I now can get on with my life.

Which includes... I just got back my Praxis II score for Elem. Ed. Content Knowledge! I got a 191, which is in the top 15 percentile.  Can I just tell you I'm a little stoked?  I am just that much closer to my teaching certificate.  Now to get myself on task and actually fill in those job applications...

To show you how responsible I am, here's the craft I did this weekend instead of homework!

Awww!  So cute!

It's a little magnetic whale!  The perks of having a roommate taking glass blowing is you get sweet little chatskies that you can mess with.

So here's the shape Nicole gave me.  She was so excited that she accidentally made a whale, and I was so excited that she gave it to me!

I decided that it was about time for me to play with my tissue paper.  I picked through my stash and found this pretty teal-ish color.  I thought it looked very appropriate for a whale.

I tore the paper into little bits.  When Mod Podging it, I placed them down one by one on the glass.  It's much less frustrating if they're pre-torn.

Layer that glass piece with Mod Podge.

And place down your tissue paper.  This will be the back of your magnet.  I was sure to rub them down as I went, and I applied another layer of Mod Podge when I was done.

Then I decided that I wanted some more colors.  I grabbed a dark blue piece of tissue paper and repeated the above steps with the new color.

This is the back of the final product....

And this is the front!  I'm so glad I added that second layer of color.  It really makes the ocean feel I was going for.  Nicole said I should add eyes, but I like it as it is.  I tend to add too much detail.

After that, all you have to do is glue on the magnet.  I used an extra strong one (this is one magnet which could cause issues if it dropped off the fridge) and used a cold glue gun.  I would recommend using something like gorilla glue instead just because it would be easier.

And here's the final product!  Among Nicole's psychology word magnets...

By my freakishly cute birds I bought at Michael's...

And on our dry erase board on the fridge in the kitchen!  Gosh, he travels!

I'm lucky to have a roommate who brings me her mess-ups from class.  If you're not lucky like me, you can use the same idea to decorate glass plates, the bottom of glass cups, even the back of those little flat sided glass marbles!  If I was doing something like that, however, I would try to find a spray sealant made for glass.  The tissue paper on the back of my whale would easily peal off if I messed with it, which made it easy to clean up the edges but would mean death if it was something that was frequently messed with.

I'd love to hear any other ideas you might have, especially as Nicole keeps sending home more bits of glass shapes for me to use.  How else can I decorate them?  Please share in the comments!