5 Mod Podge Projects

Mod Podge is the American's answer to PVA glue. It can be bought at Hobbycraft and costs £7 for a medium jar. I bought it to see the difference and really do like it when needing something slightly more robust than regular PVA glue.

Here are five projects for you to try, the first of which could easily use PVA glue instead!


I absolutely LOVE a beautiful book or journal that I can write in. I think it is one of life's little pleasures, and here I am showing you how to transform a cheap notebook from a PoundShop into something delectable!

You will need a hardback book and enough fabric to cover it. Iron the fabric to create a really smooth look. (I am no ironer but it really is important on this project!)

Spread the Mod Podge sparingly over only one side of the book. If you do all sides at the same time you will get sticky and your book will not get the same high finish. It is important not to put too much glue on. You don't want it bleeding through the fabric.

Make sure the fabric pattern is facing the table when you lay it out and then gently lay the glued side of the book down onto the fabric leaving a margin around the book.

Now apply glue to the spine of the book and roll the book over onto the fabric. It is tempting to lift the fabric onto the book, but trust me, you will get a much neater finish if you do it this way. If you have ridges in your spine, like I do, then gently use your finger to stroke the material into the ridges. But do this after you have rolled it over.

Repeat this on the final cover of the book and then leave to dry.

Once it has dried (1/2 hour) cut triangles into the margins. If you need to make the margins straighter then now is the time.







Glue the margins into the front and back of your book. If your fabric is very light you may need to wait until the glue is dried on the front before doing the back or you may find the pages stick to the fabric.

I do find that Mod Podge stiffens the fabric so you don't need to worry about fraying edges. If you use PVA glue and you find the edges are fraying you may want to get piece of card to stick over the top of the margins covering the entire inside covers of the book.

Finally you can see the inside of the spine. You should have a piece of fabric left to glue. Don't be tempted to cut it off. The longer this is the easier you will find it to stick. Apply a small amount of glue and then whilst holding the pages of the book allow the front and back cover the bend backwards opening the hole behind the pages.




Now with a scissors or a pen insert the fabric as deep into the hole as you can manage.

Here are two finished books. I am so pleased with how they look. I finished it off with a felt flower and a button that I stuck on with Mod Podge.

These took 10 minutes to make (plus drying time).

I bought these little wooden disks ages ago and have wondered what to do with them.

Very simply I covered them with a light layer of glue and stuck them onto some pretty wrapping up paper.

Once they were dry and turned it over cut around the paper using the disk as my guide and then glued over the top of the paper to create a varnished look.

Once dried I applied Mod Podge to these brooch backs from HobbyCraft  (£1 for 4) and stuck them onto the back of the disks to make pretty badges.

My children are delighted to use them to jazz up plain t-shirts and coats, and I was even thinking I could make boys badges out of magazine cuttings of their football club…watch this space!






These coasters from Wilkinsons were £2 for four. I have used the same technique, as mentioned above, to add my own flavour to them.






Add glue to the coaster then stick onto the fabric. Trim the fabric once dry and reply glue to the top of the fabric which will add a varnished feel.

This vase was an experiment and whilst PVA glue would work on most of the above projects I'm not sure it would have been suitable for this one.

I loved the little shape of this glass drink bottle and so I came up with the idea of covering it with a pretty off cut of fabric.


Firstly I glued the jar, then quickly wrapped the fabric around it.

I used a slightly stretchy fabric which helped in moulding it around the neck of the bottle. Once in place I was able to trim the fabric to join and overlap a little (see below) and then glue the bottom of the fabric underneath the bottle.

I made sure there was enough fabric on the top to glue it inside so that it looks like the fabric covers the inside too. I did this by gluing the neck of the bottle and folding the fabric into it.

Alternatively you could just trim it around the bottle top.

End your project by putting another layer of glue over the bottle. I found this easiest using my fingers which allowed for a much smoother finish. As you can see from the photo above the finished bottle looks bright and cheerful and the fabric has set so hard that it is incredibly durable.

And finally I used Mod Podge to decorate this little stool. We have had it since our first child Billy was born and use it all the time. But since he goes by the name Billy rather than William he has little ownership over the stool…so I nabbed it!


Someone has pointed out that this stool would look even cuter if I had painted it in chalk paint before hand. For more information on Chalk Paint see here.


I measured the circular top by using a plate which I then drew around onto the fabric I wanted to use.

Cut it out with a sharp pair of scissors and trim around so you don't have any stray lengths of cotton.

Now add glue to the stool, lay your cotton circle on and then cover the fabric in glue to seal.

Unfortunately I didn't take a final picture of this but it has worked well. And if you want to change the finished look in the future you can simply add a different layer of fabric to the top.

I hope you enjoy gluing as much as I have!!!