Hi guys! It’s Ashlee from My So Called Crafty Life, and today I am here to share a fun upcycled project with you. My hubby and I are having our first two legged baby this year, and are so excited! We have been working hard getting everything ready for the nursery, but are also revamping the second bathroom for our little guy too! I wanted to add a few vintage touches to the decor in there. I have been on the hunt for some fun accessories, and some cute vintage fabric to make a shower curtain with. I had a stainless steel toothbrush holder in there that has seen better days, so I decided to clean it up a bit and decoupage it with a sweet vintage book illustration as my first baby bathroom project. Check it out:
Gather These Supplies:
- Toothbrush Holder
- Scrapbook Paper
- Vintage Book Page/ Illustration
- Mod Podge Dishwasher Safe Medium
- Paintbrush
- Scissors
- Brayer
Instructions:
The first thing you will want to do is clean your toothbrush holder thoroughly. I cleaned mine with soap and water and let it dry thoroughly before I started working with it. Next, you want to mark your paper so you know where to cut it. If your holder is a perfect cylinder, you can just measure the circumference and mark a straight piece of paper to cut.
My holder was tapered, and I am lazy when it comes to measuring curves, so I wrapped my scrapbook paper around the holder and carefully bent and marked the paper at the top and bottom.
Once I had the curve layout marked, I cut the piece out, cutting about an eighth of an inch or so inside the top and bottom line.
Then, cut out your book Illustration to your liking.
Now you are ready to decoupage. I used Mod Podge Dishwasher Safe Medium since it can get wet and washed without ruining the piece. Paint a little medium onto the inside end of one side of your scrapbook paper piece. Line up the paper around your holder and smooth out the end with the medium down onto the holder.
Now you can paint medium onto the toothbrush holder and smooth out the paper onto the holder as you go along until you reach the other end. You will need to paint a little medium onto the top of the started end and then overlap the paper and smooth it down. Smooth out any bubbles with a brayer. Carefully press creases into the bottom if there are areas that don’t lay flat. I ended up with a couple of bubbles I couldn’t get out. I poked them gently with a straight pin and used a hair dryer on them and that worked for me.
Now you can add your vintage book image over the top. Paint a layer of Mod Podge Dishwasher Safe Medium onto the backside of your illustration. Then, carefully line up the illustration where you want it to go on your toothbrush holder and lay it on top. Smooth the paper out from the center out to each side. Remove bubbles with a brayer. To finish off your piece you will need to add a layer or two of the medium and set it aside to dry and cure.
I love how my little upcycled toothbrush holder turned out! Hopefully baby Sam will enjoy it too, when he’s big enough to brush his own teeth of course. I love how easy this project is and how simple it is to customize. I am a total sucker for vintage children’s books and their amazing illustrations, so this turned out to be perfect for the look I wanted in my bathroom. You can easily customize your to your style just by the papers you use. So take that old boring toothbrush holder you have laying around your bathroom and turn it into a really fun piece for your space!
If you all would like to see more of my work you can find me on my blog, My So Called Crafty Life, here. You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.
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