"Appeeling" Pizza Peel

I've been meaning to do something with this pizza peel that I had shoved down between the fridge and the kitchen cabinet for about 2 years. Finally, I had the confidence and skill set to do what I wanted with it! This was fun to make and looks great hanging in my kitchen now. 

Though I do love to cook, once in a while...ya know? So I just had to use this cheesy old joke.

All of the papers that I used here are from Graphic 45; which I adore. Who doesn't? Not being able to bear wasting any paper from this line, I was able to use up a great deal of my scraps. First I layered bits and pieces of paper over the entire peel using some Glossy Mod Podge that I got on clearance. Normally, I would go for a matte gel medium here but I knew that this would be covered later and I could save the more expensive medium for the final coat.

Next, I used a Tim Holtz fleur-de-lis border mask and some distress ink to help the papers blend together with no one in particular standing out. I did not do this to the handle of the paddle that I needed to stand out a little more to balance the piece later.

To further blend the background together, I added two layers of white tissue paper with gel medium. You have to allow the first to dry before adding the second. Again, I omitted this step with the handle.

Next I stamped my words.

The flowers were created using more G45 scraps and punching flower shapes, then inking with distress ink.

I arranged these punched flowers in groups of three to five then stacked various other left over flowers and buttons to their centers. Some of them I curled up a bit using a pencil to add dimension.

The man and woman images were cut out of some of the papers and adhered and the whole piece was coated with gel medium to preserve it. After it dried, the flowers were glued on using Tacky glue, also adding some leaves.

The clunky vintage button I've had around for ages finally found a home! It was perfect for this project. Last, I outlined the people and their words with a Sharpie to help them stand out.

I finished it off with a bow around the handle, a piece of gold trim through the hole. The tiny bouquet of mini roses above the stamped words were added as an after thought to keep your eyes focussed into the piece.

And now, I would like to remind everyone to leave a comment on my previous post about where you find inspiration so that you have a chance to win my random Giveaway. Good luck and have a fabulous weekend!