Disney "Believe" Board

So, I'm sure most of you are aware of this (if you've talked to me or seen my facebook in the past few months, then you are), but for those of you that are not....I got accepted into the Walt Disney World College Program!!! What does this mean? This means that come August, I will be living and working at The Happiest Place on Earth for 5 months. Of course, I'm hoping this (paid!!!) internship will turn into a permanent job with Disney. I took my first trip to Disney World in 1997 when I was 9, and ever since then, I've wanted to work for them. So this internship opportunity is a dream come true for me! :)

Anyway, since I got accepted, and since I now have a ton of free time because I am DONE with school (graduation is this Saturday!!), I have been indulging my creative side. :) This is making me extremely happy, because for the past few months, I haven't been able to all that much because of school. But now, I can!

So, one of my first projects for this summer was what I'm calling my Disney "Believe" Board. This is something that I can hang on my wall, and every time I look at it, I am reminded to believe in my dreams because, yes, they can come true...no matter how big they are. And trust me, when I dream, I dream big. :p

So, how did I create this board? Well......

I started with a scrap piece of cardboard that I had lying around. I don't remember where this piece came from, but I know that when I saw it, I made a point of keeping it because I figured I could do something with it. Make sure that if you decide to do a project like this, that the cardboard is pretty sturdy and thick. It needs to be able to hold the paint and the items you'll put on it. You could also use a piece of plywood if you don't have cardboard. Just make sure you sand the plywood before you use it! :)


I then painted the cardboard. If you like the look of plain cardboard, then feel free to skip this part. However, I like color, so I decided to paint my board red. I used Apple Barrel brand in Crimson. The picture above is after one coat. That just wasn't bright enough for me, so....

...I added another coat. This was much better for me. :)

Then I laid the stuff that I was going to put on it out. I used punch-out letters to spell out "Believe", and the rest of the stuff is memorabilia from my trip to Disney in December. At the bottom right, there's a coaster, my ticket/room key/credit card is at the bottom left, and in the center at the top is a personalized congratulation note from Mickey himself. :) I celebrated my college graduation a bit early in December, so this was one of the things I got. :)

Time to Mod Podge everything! Make sure that not only do you concentrate on the edges (like shown in the picture), but that you do go back over the entire board with the Mod Podge. This will seal in everything, and it will give the whole board a much smoother finish.
And here is the finished product! I'm going to add a bracket to the back so that I can hang it on my wall, but if you wanted to just prop it up somewhere, that would be fine, too. :) I'm very excited about my board, and what it represents to me. :) And this makes me even more excited for August to get here so I can move on into the next chapter in my life.