Mother's Day Decoupaged Vase

What to do with kids artwork, part 1 of infinity.

My kids bring home so much artwork from school, and for the most part I stash it all in a big bin until I can decide what to do with it. I'm always looking for fun ways to preserve it and this was pretty cute, IMHO.

I also happen to have a few cheap vases lying around from when I get a delivery from 1-800-flowers or something. I don't claim to be getting roses every Friday, but I did have two of them and have no use for fresh cut flowers sitting around the house for the cats to eat and vomit up on the counter.

This is the part that made my son cry. I took a few pieces of painted artwork and cut them into small pieces. "I don't like it when you do that," he tells me. Oh well, it's better than throwing it in the garbage, but of course I can't say that to a four year old. One day he'll appreciate it. Today is not that day. Anyway, take each piece of cut paper and either dip it or brush with some Mod Podge and attach it to the vase. I worked bottom up so I could get a feel for how the paper would respond since the top part is a lot curvier.

I considered this curve for a good five minutes before taking it on. Luckily the paper gets really soft even though it's crusted over with 18 layers of paint when it's immersed in the Podge.

See the edges picking up a bit? This needed a few more coats.

I ended up doing two of these - one for my mom and one for my MIL. I did one matte and one glossy, and I liked the glossy better so I'll keep that in mind for next time.

Put a bouquet in and enjoy!