Basement Stairs - Update

I don't remember if I mentioned my basement stairway project, but I have one going on, and I'm here with an update... It was such a challenge to work on it with Jerry working on finishing the basement, and then somehow life just kinda got crazy. I don’t think we were all that extra busy, but somehow it got put aside. Well, I’m finally back at it, and it’s going to get done now! And, since it took so long to get back to it, I’ve revised my final plans for them… can’t wait to show off  the finished product!

Anyway, here's what I used and where we're at. Check it out:

2 Rolls of Packaging paper

20 Sheets of Construction Paper

A Mini Roller

A Paint Brush

½ Gallon of Mod Podge

I let the kids help on this one, too. We tore the packaging paper into rough squares and rectangles – no specific size or shape. Then we crumpled them into balls. I printed on the construction paper to make the point spaces and Scrabble tiles, and we cut those out.

The first 5 steps already had the brown paper down, so I quickly scattered a handful of tiles and spaces on them and Mod Podged them down.

Lily became my chief helper at this point. She would un-crumple the paper balls and pass them to me. I Mod Podged them to the step, making sure to overlap, and to wrap around the bull nose to meet the riser below. While the Mod Podge was still wet, Lily would then scatter another handful of tiles and spaces  on the step, and then I would hit it again with another coat of Mod Podge on top.

The site where I got my idea for this project said they put several coats of polyurethane on top to finish it. I noticed with the top 5 steps that sat for a while, the Mod Podge hardened quite a bit. Since we’ve been walking on them without the poly anyway, I’m thinking that I might skip it. I figure if I start noticing that the traffic is causing too much wear on the steps, I can touch them up and polyurethane them at that point. We’ll see how it goes.

Here’s how it looks now…

View from the top, looking down...

View from the bottom, looking up...

The project is not done, but at least it no longer looks half finished. I still have plans to paper the risers, and the kids want their names in tiles across them so they can be seen as they walk up the stairs. So, that’s my next step. I’ll show those off when I finish. Hopefully it won’t be another nine months from now!

*Tip for Mod - Podging your stairs - Keep the cat out of it, so he doesn't end up with Mod Podge on his back...