October 26, 2012

Altered Mousetrap–Vintage Beach

Apparently, one of the newest cool things to alter is a mousetrap! They make a great note holder when magnets are attached to the back. I guess if you work in a cubicle, you could also add Velcro to the back.

altered mousetrap

I decided to take apart the trap mechanism to make it easier to add the background paper and ink it. Wow, it is very stiff and very spring loaded. Poor little mousies… Anyway, it took a bit of yanking to get the clips out from the wood but I kept prying until I got them out. I was glad I did; I decorated it and let everything dry when I realized that I didn’t remember how to put it back together. Yikes! Fortunately, I had another  still intact and figured it out. Whew! All sides were inked with Vintage Photo ink.

I used liquid glue to adhere the background papers and then made some embellishments. The lady under the orange umbrella was adhered to coaster chipboard, sanded and inked front and back; at least the portion that will show so it looks finished from the back. The flower was painted with acrylic paint then sanded when dry to distress it. The watch hand was inserted then the brad distressed with the claw end of my hammer.

altered mousetrap closeup

The sand dollar was punched out twice from ivory and kraft cardstock. Then I layered them and added Glossy Accents to the surface. Before it dried, I added the sand and shell inclusions. I couldn’t get all the bubbles out, they kept moving away from my pin tip (GRRR!) so I finally left them since they added to the rustic nature of the embellishment, or at least, that’s what I told myself! {{{Grin}}} Add magnets and all done!

Have you ever embellished a mousetrap? This was my first. If you decide to try it, send me a picture! It was really quite fun!

No Mouse was Harmed in the Making of this Project! New Unused Traps. A better use for sure!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Paper:
DP-Graphic 45 Boardwalk, Vanilla, kraft CS-SU!
Ink: Vintage photo, antique linen Distress
Accessories: acrylic paint, flower, watch hand, brad- Tim Holtz, mousetrap-Dollarama, sand dollar punch-MS, sand and shell-Mudd Puddles, coaster board-Ellen Hutson,

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