How to: Make a Paddle!

Nine times out of ten, when I go to craft something, I have a clear view of what I want the finished product to look like. There are always some minor adjustments along the way, because let's be honest, my mind imagines things that can’t always be done. Of course, this project was furthest from the truth. 

The supplies you need for any paddle are very simple. I have a tendency to use paper and modge podge instead of painting but that’s only because I make stick art look hard. You can buy everything you need at your local craft store and probably for cheaper than I got it. The paddle that I use is from Michaels. Really, other than the paddle you only need a couple of things if you use paper like I did. I picked this beautiful gold glitter cardstock and got regular modge podge and glitter modge podge to go with it. I also bought two wooden ovals and stick on letters to use for her name. Everything cost me under $20.

The before picture.

Using my paper cutter, I cut the cardstock into manageable strips and began to modge podge them onto the paddle. This is the tricky part; you want to use a lot more than you think. And by that I mean drench the paper and paddle in modge podge. Only drench it if you’re using cardstock like I did. If its normal scrapbook paper then you’ll have a way easier time. I got the middle part done fine and pretty quickly too. Now this is where I started to run into MAJOR issues. The cardstock I chose was just too thick to fold over the rounded parts of the paddle.

The process of adding card stock to the paddle.

I decided to take a trip back to Michaels to see if they had anything similar to what I used but in a thinner paper. I was in luck, I found something that could work, it wouldn’t be perfect but it would work. When you use the thinner paper, you work around the curves much like you would when wrapping a gift. I left the paddle to dry and came back about 10 minutes later to finish it. Of course, as soon as I left one of my sisters accidentally dropped her project onto my drying paddle. It was COVERED in bright pink paint. By the time I got back, there was no saving it.

While attempting not to cry over spilt paint, I painted one of the wooden ovals blue and then covered it in glitter modge podge (which by the way is amazing). I put her initials on it and set that aside to dry.

Cute wooden oval for the paddle.

I had to do something about the pink paint that covered the top half of my paddle. It luckily got mainly on the new paper that I had just added. I remembered that I had a ton of gold glitter in my craft box and decided to make it work. To remove the old paper from the paddle, you’ve got to pull it off and then sand the paddle down. This is really important because if you don’t, it won’t go on flat and the paddle surface will be uneven. 

Thick modge podge layers.

Once I covered the rest of the paddle in glitter, I put a thick (and I mean THICK) layer of modge podge over it to seal it down. Don’t skip this step. If you do, then I hope you like living covered in glitter. The next morning, the paddle was dry and my suite mate was overjoyed to have it!

The finished product!