DIY Personalized Sand Bucket

Matthew got invited to his friend Phineas' 3rd birthday party last saturday 

and me being the horrible excellent planner that I am 

had an awesome birthday gift ready. 

not quite :) 

So saturday morning before the party M and I chugged on over to Michael's 

and picked up some things to make a cool present. 

They had these sand buckets for $1 so I decided to use it as a kinda gift basket! 

I also grabbed a paint pen and wrote Phineas' name on his bucket for a more personalized gift

Then we went to the dollar store and picked out some fun things to put into his bucket. 

Here's how it turned out!

I picked up an extra bucket to make one for M. 

I took a little more time making his. 

Here's how I did it! :) 

First I printed out the letters of his name in a font I liked. 

I cut each of the letters out and used tape to place them where I wanted inside the bucket. 

Then I took my blue paint pen and went over each letter. 

I did about 3 coats letting each coat dry in between. 

After the blue was dry I went back with a white paint pen 

and outlined all the letters to make them stand out a little better. 

I only did one coat of white. 

I think it turned out pretty cute! and it was very easy to make!

I'm looking for something that I can put over the paint to make it more permanent.  

When I messed up I just scratched the paint off with my finger nail,
so I'm thinking that the letters may come off.
Maybe a sealer or something? I'll let you know when I figure it out!