So, I have been saving my Chinese fortune cookie papers for quite some time. I was originally planning on pasting them on a box- like purse. Well, I came up with a better idea-- display them on a Chinese food tray we can bust out when we order Chinese food!! Yay!! This is so easy-- the most time consuming part is accumulating the fortunes.. Unless, of course, you want to cheat and order them through Oriental Trading.. No judgements!! :) All you need is fortunes, a cheap tray, and Mod Podge. This costs me about $ 5.00 , aside from all the Chinese takeout and pounds to my body! HA!!
First-- collect fortunes (or buy them).. I had a baby food jar full, which was the perfect amount:
I had a hard time choosing between two trays. In the end, I love the clear one because you can read the Chinese to English words/ numbers from the bottom-- so cool! Here are the two I chose between; they both cost under $ 3.00 :
Next, I sorted through my "fortunes" and grouped them together. This could be due to my slight case of OCD-- not a necessary step. I do like how they are somewhat grouped in the final piece, though (be it work-related, travels, matters of the heart, etc). In the end, it is your tray so whatever makes you happy is perfect..
Lastly, you simply Mod Podge (which is like glue and can be bought at Wal Mart for about $5.00 per canister). You will only use about 75 cents worth of the Mod Podge and will have lots left to play with. See my future Map Art post or google Mod Podge and find many neat uses for this product. :)
Cover the surface of your tray one area at a time as you lay down the "fortunes'. No need to overwhelm yourself. Just take it piece by piece and have fun with it.. Once you lay one, it is best to probably keep there, unless you REALLY want it somewhere else... The paper can get "gunky" and tends to want to stay put... That being said, lay out your design before you press papers into the Mod Podge..
Once you have the papers "glued" (with the Mod Podge)-- you want to take a brush and paint over them with another coat of Mod Podge.. It will look fuzzy-- not unlike a mess:
Some parts may even look bubbly-- don't mess with them! I got impatient and tampered with mine, thus resulting in a popped bubble-- not pretty!! I wish I would have let time work that out.. Just make sure to paint a thick coat and you will end up with a super-fly Chinese fortune tray and a great excuse to order in Chinese tomorrow night!! :)
A look at the underside of the tray (clear):
Have fun and be happy:)
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Your creativity and eye for uses for things is amazing. Who would have thought of this? They do look good on the clear tray. I can't believe you have enough fortunes to sort into categories! You are very fortunate. Ha ha.
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