make a better mousepad

I’ve been playing around with painting on fabric..trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t. Today I decided to use my new found painting-on-fabric skills to update our old mousepad.

Supplies: fabric, stencil of your choice, acrylic paint, foam mousepad, adhesive spray, scissors or X-acto knife.

I found an image that I used my Silhouette machine to cut out on vinyl. A bike! Perfect for Father’s Day! After weeding out the inside of the cutting, I’m left with a stencil of a bike. Of course you can use any stencil or make your own!

Using transfer paper, I put this on a piece of fabric. This is the fabric I bought to make curtains for that room with, so everything will match. Once the vinyl is stuck on, carefully dab on the acrylic paint with a foam brush. The vinyl doesn’t stick very well to the fabric, so you have to be careful when painting. Additionally, the paint will bleed through the fabric, so put newspaper underneath your project. You want the surface of the mousepad to be smooth, so go easy on the paint.

Once the paint dries, iron the other side to get out any wrinkles.

It’s hard to see in the above photo, but determine where you want the fabric to be on the mousepad, then trace around the mousepad on the wrong side of the fabric to make an outline. Then take both the pad and fabric outside and use your adhesive spray on the wrong side of the fabric. I used a lot just to help prevent any fraying from the edge of the fabric. Stick on your mousepad using your outline as a guide. Smooth over with your hands to make sure there are no wrinkles and the fabric is where you want it to be.

Once firmly in place, use an X-acto knife or scissors to cut off the excess fabric.

That’s all there is to it!

Linked to: Designer Garden, Tatertots and Jello, Somewhat Simple-Father’s Day Ideas, I ♥ Naptime, Nifty Thrifty Things, Under the Table and Dreaming, Between Naps On the Porch, Skip to My Lou, At Home With K, Blue Cricket Design, Lil’ Luna, House of Hepworths