Light My Fire

Jay and I recently went to the local ACE Hardware which is not as boring as I thought it would be. I saw a 10-pak of Diamond "Strike Anywhere" box matches and realized I was out of box matches at home (which I love). Guess I hadn't been to any fancy bars lately, so why not pick these up for $1.57?

Then I had an idea...what if I decorated the matches myself? There happens to be Mod Podge at ACE, too (which is the coolest stuff). I could cut photos out of magazines and paste them on when I got home...

First, I decided to paint each side so that I wouldn't have to cut the magazine images so perfectly. I used some white flat wall paint that we had in the garage and poured some into my paper coffee cup. Easy. I was really getting into this!

Then, I grabbed all the magazines I had laying around and started cutting images. Choosing the images was probably the most fun and creative part. I used one box of matches to trace the shapes.

And finally, I pasted an image on each side. It was interesting to learn that some magazines had more suitable paper for this project. For example Surfer Mag's paper was pretty thin, and I had to baby it a little by getting air bubbles and creases out. Whereas Art on Paper rocked. I am certain the thick paper from a Surfer's Journal would be terrific, but I'm not cutting those up.

I really like lighting my candles with these. My favorite right now is Trapp No. 4 Orange Vanilla (2 oz votives). I know scent is a very personal thing, but I highly recommend these.

By the way, it's nice to be back. Thanks for your hello's recently.