You may have seen this tutorial over at Creativity Week at
7-3-3, but I wanted to post it on my blog just for my own records. :) Enjoy!
Last year I discovered
these cute letter blocks over at
It's a Girl Thing (hey Tara!)
I fell in love with them...so this year when I stumbled upon them again, I realized it was time for me to make some of my own. So I drew up a pattern of how I wanted the letters to be and had my dad cut the letters out for me. They stand approximately 8-10 inches high, depending on the letter.
So...first thing's first, I chose the paper I was planning to use (in the long-run I chose a couple of different ones instead...) but it's good to line up the colors you are wanting and see what order they look best in to you before you start tracing the letters.
The next step is to trace your letters onto the paper. Remember to flip your letter so that it's backwards, or else when you turn the paper to the front side, it will be backwards.
After you've cut out all your letters, lay them on top of your wood blocks and make sure they are a good fit.
The next step is to get out your mod-podge and go to town!
After you mod podge the paper on, the next step is to paint the sides and the backs of the letters in a coordinating shade. I chose a light green. I like to kind of do a thin sponged line of paint on the front of the letters as well--just on the very edges--to help tie it all together and make it look more consistent:
Then, after the paint has dried, put a couple of coats of mod podge over it as well. This will help to keep it from chipping, it will make them more water-proof, and it helps the whole block look more consistently shiny.
If you look closely here, you can see that I added a thin border of paint around the front of each of the letters, and then coated it all in a final layer of mod podge.
The last step is to embellish your blocks (if you like that sort of thing...you may prefer to just leave them plain like they are above. Your choice!)
My little collage notebook isn't beautiful--a lot of the images are cut out crooked or torn from me thinking I could rip them from the magazine....
Some of the writing on the labels are smudged because I was using one of those really inky pens (I hate those pens)....
But all my BHG images (there are a few Pottery Barn catalog images mixed in too) fit into one notebook now, instead of twenty different magazines.
And now I have a photo of every decorating idea I've ever loved from BHG at my fingertips for when we get a real house, and I am not carting around my {very loved} magazines from apartment to apartment while hubbs goes to grad school.
AFTER again with ribbon added:
The first thing I did was remove the ribbon from the top and bottom of the shade, so I'd have a smooth area to work with when I re-covered.
I purchased some Elmer's Spray Adhesive, because another craft blog had recommended it, but actually it wasn't very tacky...next time I think I'd use the 3M brand I use for my Big Shot projects.
The next thing I did was iron my fabric so there were no creases. Then I folded the edge down so I had a nice clean edge for the crease on the shade.
Then I sprayed the shade with the spray adhesive, and rolled the shade onto the fabric, making sure to keep the fabric very taught and smooth so there wouldn't be any wrinkles.
Then I tucked my raw edge under, and started hot-gluing.
Once I hot-glued the crease, I went around and glued the excess fabric on the inside of the shade.
Once I'd glued the edges in on the top and bottom, I put in back on the lamp base, and voila! It was done. :) I'm still trying to decide if I want to add some ribbon detailing on the top and bottom of the shade, though....what do you think?
What do you think?
Umm...colorful furniture? Yes please?!?
Beautiful! How cute would this be in a baby girl nursery?
Umm...that clock? Hello!!!!
Easy peasy scrapbook art pictures! Rock on!
I'm SO making one of these someday...when I have kids.
*Chorus of angels singing* "Ahhhhhh!"
Ca-ute!!! Sign me up for a wall with a bunch of plates!
So...first thing's first, I chose the paper I was planning to use (in the long-run I chose a couple of different ones instead...) but it's good to line up the colors you are wanting and see what order they look best in to you before you start tracing the letters. 
The next step is to trace your letters onto the paper. Remember to flip your letter so that it's backwards, or else when you turn the paper to the front side, it will be backwards.
After you've cut out all your letters, lay them on top of your wood blocks and make sure they are a good fit.
The next step is to get out your mod-podge and go to town!
After you mod podge the paper on, the next step is to paint the sides and the backs of the letters in a coordinating shade. I chose a light green. I like to kind of do a thin sponged line of paint on the front of the letters as well--just on the very edges--to help tie it all together and make it look more consistent:
Then, after the paint has dried, put a couple of coats of mod podge over it as well. This will help to keep it from chipping, it will make them more water-proof, and it helps the whole block look more consistently shiny.
If you look closely here, you can see that I added a thin border of paint around the front of each of the letters, and then coated it all in a final layer of mod podge.
The last step is to embellish your blocks (if you like that sort of thing...you may prefer to just leave them plain like they are above. Your choice!)
