How to make a paddle

As you may have surmised by now I'm a proud member of a sorority.  There are loads of traditions that go along sorority life, and one of them in my particular chapter is decorated paddles.  When a new member is initiated their big (basically their mentor) decorates them a wooden paddle (don't worry they are purely for tradition/decoration purposes...not for hazing!) and in turn when their big graduates the little makes them a paddle.  Luckily my big will be around for another year, but as she's a senior and will become an alumni of the chapter in a few days, it was my turn to craft for her.

Now I'm not particularly adept at painting, so I decided to mod podge fabric onto the paddle.  It ended up looking really cool and was a very different/awesome texture (which you can't really tell in the pictures so you'll have to trust me.)

Step 1: I started off by washing, drying, and pressing my fabric, then I put a layer of mod podge (a kind of glue, primer, and finishing gloss all in one) on the fabric so that when I cut it it wouldn't fray.

Step 2: I very carefully traced the outline of the paddle onto the fabric and cut it out (this was by far the hardest step, it needed to be the perfect size.)

Step 4: I went outside and sprayed the paddle and wooden letters with spray paint

(it was lovely outside and a perfect time to soak up some rays)

Step 5: paint a layer of mod podge onto the paddle itself, line up the fabric and smooth it down (i used an empty vitamins bottle to roll out any creases, they sell actual rollers at craft stores though that are probably more user-friendly/official).  And finally I added another layer of mod podge over the top of the fabric to give it a glossy, finished appearance. 

Step 6: I stuck on the wooden letters (the ones i got had adhesive on the back so this was really easy), and tied a big bow around the handle and here's what the finished paddle looked like

-J