Glow-in-the-dark Wall Hanging

Make cute glow in the dark wall hangings with just a few materials (you may even have laying around the house!) Great for kids rooms or adding a bit of flare to your bedroom.

What you'll need:
-Scrap wood, cut in a size that fits the text that you want to use
-Acrylic paint
-Glow in the dark paint 
-Paint brush 
-Pre-cut paper letters (I bought these at Wal-Mart for $4 in the stationary section and have used them for a few different projects)
-Clear glue (or Modge Podge)
-Small piece of wire (or string)
-Two small finishing nails

You can either by the wood at a hardware store or my preference is to use scrap wood and cut to size. I cut 3.5" high and 15" long but  the length you cut will depend on the name or saying you choose. Cut the wood to size and sand the sides smooth.

Choose the colour that you want the wood bases to be and paint 2-3 coats, allowing each coat to dry thoroughly before applying the next.

Next, apply the glow in the dark paint. It goes on pretty streaky, and after doing a few of these I think I got the technique down pat. Apply the coats fairly heavy and make sure to allow the paint to dry fully before applying the next coat. Alternate your paint strokes for each coat (vertically for one coat, horizontally for the next) After each coat, go into a dark room to check how the layers look. It will probably take 3-5 coats (the more the better). If it's still kind of streaky after 5 coats, don't worry too much about it (once the paper letters and glue go on, it will cover/even out the streaks)

I used the paper letters because that's just what I had left over from another project. But you could use any type of text that you have (foam lettering or even paint the letters on)

I find clear glue easier to use because it doesn't bubble paper like ModgePodge does. But all I had was ModgePodge so that's what I used. Simply modgepodge your lettering on and try your darndest to avoid bubbles. I applied two coats and let it dry.

The easiest way to create a hanging hook is with 2 nails and a piece of wire (or string). Once your art is completely dry, flip it over, measure the width to find the center. Space the two nails about an inch or two in each direction from the center and hammer them halfway in (make sure that the length of nails won't go through the wood or you'll ruin your art!). Wrap the wire around the nail a few times, then around the other one. Hammer the nails the rest of the way in, this will secure the wire (or string) around the nail. 

Go to a dark room with your art and turn out the light. The background will illuminate, allowing you to read the text even in the dark!

I've made a few different pieces using this technique for Christmas presents. The "always kiss me good night" lettering didn't bubble like the kid's names because I used clear glue to secure the letters and used ModgePodge as the finishing coat.

Happy glowing!