DIY Letter Decoration

So it's time for DIY project my fellow enthusiasts.  This week I really wanted to put something on top of my giant entertainment unit where all my DVDs were.  I thought that installing a shelf for the DVDs would allow more room for decorative stuff to showcase me.   Now window shopping around furniture stores I always seem to find these really cool letter decorations that have the words 'love', 'faith' or other really lovely expressions to them.  Now as much as I liked these, I obviously couldn't afford any of them on my budget so I decided to go the crafty route and make my own DIY version!  *Plus it could be a lot more personal with whatever message I wanted it to say.

 So to do this, I first figured out wanted I wanted the expression to say, then off to my local craft store (Michaels for me here in Vancouver) and got all my supplies ready for this project!

Supplies needed (spray paint not shown)

I picked up:
 -foam board (I used to whole boards split      evenly in half)
  -masking tape (2-3 rolls depending on how long your phrase is)
   -spray paint (to add some colour)
   -paper styrofoam cups (to add depth to these letters)
   -scissors/exactoknife , pencil and some white glue
         

First I traced the letters onto one piece of foam board and then using my exactoknife?(is that how you spell it?) I cut it out.  Now the sharper your blade the easier it is to cut, I clearly had a hard time doing this as my blade was slightly dull.

2 copies of "to the right"

Once it's cut, trace it onto another piece of foam and cut it out.   Now one piece is the front and the other is the back.

Drawings and cuttings of letters

Now that the front and back is covered, time to add some depth!  Using simple white glue, paste the cups between both sides of the board and let dry [As shown in the picture] and then let dry.  By gluing the styrofoam cups onto both sides of the letters, it not only adds depth but gives it an appearance of weight without it being heavy at all.

Using white glue makes it easy

Adding paper cups to add depth

It should stand easily on it's own with the cups adding depth

When the glue has dried, use the masking tape to join the sides making the side walls of the letters, unifying to two pieces of foam board into one element.  This might take some time, especially when you have circles in the middle of your letter,  be patient and keep at it, because it'll look really nice once it's done.  I personally was watching Netflix at the same time while doing this step.

Once it's all taped together

After the letter has been completely sealed off with the masking tape, let stand to the tape can bind together fully, then my favourite part comes next...the spray painting!

 Spray paint your letter/word any colour you want, and just let dry for a couple of hours.

After you put in all the work into your one letter, all you gotta next is repeat that for everything else!
And voila! you're very own DIY letter decor.


*Just some side notes, I ended up doing the very bare minimum for this project, you can do so much more branching from this, colouring it differently, using different types of materials and such.  Make sure you comment below and let me know what you would write out, and any changes to materials you would do!

Just some photos of the finish work:

Before

After

the left side of it all complete

the right side of it all complete

In case you didn't get the quote, it's "Second Star to the Right and straight on till morning" from one of my favourite Disney films, Peter Pan!

Hope you have fun making one. BYE :)