This week, we celebrate Friday the Thirteenth. A day, in Western countries, considered by many to be the unluckiest day of the year. The exact source of the superstition is not clear, although there are many interesting possibilities. Regardless of the origin, the date alone causes fear in millions of people which I find astonishing. While I admit to having a share of superstitions in my life, Friday the Thirteenth is not one of them. To have a bit of fun on this special day… I thought why not highlight another widely popular fear and superstition. So this week, I created a project inspired by something that many fear and feel superstitious about… the Ouija Board. Nothing to fear here my friends… it’s just a Ouija Lazy Susan! Instead of a Ouija Board…. how about a Ouija Cheese Board! 🙂
Last year I happened upon a couple of Wooden Lazy Susan’s in a thrift store, and to my surprise had an identical one at home. Yeah – that’s right – I buy so much crap I don’t even know what I have… don’t judge! Anyway, I kicked off my Lazy Susan makeovers with a Rock Star Studded Susan. She has served me well! Literally! I’m excited to finally add another one to my collection! When considering a Ouija Board project, these boards seemed like the perfect candidate to work on.
You may remember a Ouija Board Serving Tray I created long ago. No harm in having a few serving pieces display this popular image, but this time I wanted to change up the design just a bit. I liked the idea of a round board, and you’ll notice the addition of some skulls. Yeah.. I can’t get away from them!!
Here’s what I used and how I created the board:
- Wooden Lazy Susan
- Paint Brushes
- Printable Image
- Liquitex Matte Gel
- Sand paper
- Spar Urethane
Choose or create a circular image. I created my own image but if you don’t want to design your own, there are tons of round images available if you search google images or for purchase on Etsy.
Save the image as a Mirror Image
Since most wooden lazy susans are wider than a standard printer width, you’ll likely need to have copies of your image made from a print shop or office supply store. Tip… Most of these stores can resize the image for you. Just save your image to an external drive, and bring it in to them with the measurements you need.
Make sure the paper size that the image is printed on is larger than the lazy susan. You’ll need a bit of overhang around all edges when you apply the image to your board.
Another tip…. get a few copies! Mistakes happen, and you want to be prepared. I’ve used this image transfer method dozens of times, and even I admit…. I got three copies, and made stupid mistakes on the first two in seconds!
Trim equally around the image – leaving an allowance larger than the board. You want the entire surface of the board to be covered with white paper. This ensures a uniform appearance later. Trust me.
Apply a heavy coat of Liquitex to the board.
With your image facing up, gently lay the board down onto the paper. You can, of course, lay the paper onto the board, but I choose to do it the other way to ensure I’m as centered as possible… otherwise it’s difficult to tell. If you trimmed an equal amount around your image it should be pretty easy to center the board onto the paper.
Flip the board over to dry. You have a very small amount of time to adjust the paper if necessary, but be careful… once it’s wet from the liquitex it can tear.
Very carefully, smooth the image out. Do not leave any air bubbles.
Let dry. Completely. Like, go pour a glass or two of wine and forget about this board for a while! I actually let it sit overnight… but I’m overly cautious. Everyone out there who uses this product seems to have a different opinion about how long they allow it to sit, so if you choose to allow less time, just be sure to spot check.
Once the waiting is over, the fun but tedious part begins. Everything you do from this point forward should be done with care and extreme patience.
Start with a cloth and a cup of water, and GENTLY begin rubbing the water into the paper. You will quickly start to notice the image appearing through the paper. The goal of what you are doing in this step is to start breaking down the fibers of the white paper. You DO NOT want the paper to tear, so again, rub slowly and gently. Feel free to work in one area at a time.
You’ll start to notice bits of the white paper beginning to shred off. At this point, I like to switch from the cloth to my finger. Again, use the water to wet the paper, and gently move your finger back and forth across the paper until the fiber begins rolling off. Note – the paper needs to be very wet for this to work. As you see some success, there is going to be a temptation to go crazy rubbing the paper off, but you can accidentally rub the black ink off as well… so be patient! This process takes a bit of time, so get comfortable.
Don’t get fooled by how great it looks while it’s wet. You’ll be disappointed when it dries, and a white film of paper reappears over your image. Don’t fret.. we have a solution! Simply allow your project to dry entirely every time you think you’ve peeled the paper off. The fiber from the paper will reappear, and you’ll be able to see what areas still have fibers to rub away.
Once you feel confident that you’ve done all you can, allow the board to dry completely.
Remove any loose debris from the paper fibers. If overhang still remains, use the sandpaper to clean up the board edges.
Brush a layer of Spar Urethane over the entire image. Again, brush gently. The urethane should not smear the ink, but don’t take any chances. Make sure you are using an oil based product. The oils will dissolve the white film, and allow the image to have that beautiful “wet look” even when dry. The picture above shows half of my board brushed with urethane…. HUGE difference, right?!
A quick note about Spar Urethane….. After much research for a food safe sealant product for my serving trays and boards, I found research that suggests Spar Urethane is a good option. However, the finish is not considered food safe until it has completely cured. A general rule of thumb for full curing is about 30 days at room temperature. I cannot make claims about it’s 100% safety, so please make your own decisions about whether you are comfortable putting food directly onto the tray.
Once the Urethane dries, use the sandpaper to rough up the surface, and brush another layer of urethane onto the surface. Repeat until there is at least 3 layers of urethane.
Allow the urethane to cure as mentioned above, and your board is ready for entertaining!
I’m so happy I found you on Instagram and just subscribed to your blog. I’m an artist too and am definitely inspired by some of your pieces. Very cool! 😎🖤
Hi Carlie!! I’m so glad you found me too!! Welcome!! Excited to have another artist’s eye…. looking forward to hearing what you think….. and I’m always open to new ideas if you have any for me!!
I just subscribed to your email and followed you on Pinterest! Excited & Thank You ❤️🧙🏻♀️
Angela…. Awesome! I’m always excited and lucky to have readers like you! Welcome and hope you continue to enjoy!!