Luck Letter Blocks

Seriously, this girl Tara at It's a Girl Thing does the cutest letter blocks. Here is her St. Patrick's day ones:

Spring Wood Letters

Darling Spring blocks from It's a girl thing:

Sooo....here are my NEW "Spring" blocks! We will be making these for our next Craft Club get-together...and although there WILL be a few things I "tweak"...such as the size of some of the letters & the paper on one of them....I am pretty dang proud of them!

This is the first wood project I have done FROM SCRATCH!! I drew up the letters...and had our wood supplier cut them out (that's next...buy my own saws) and then went to town!

I am not a HUGE "tutorial-er" but I can give you some tips. Here are the steps that I took:

Materials:
-Wood letters
-Sanding Paper
-Stain
-Gloves (when staining)
-Rag (to wipe stain off)
-Brushes
-Mod Podge
-CUTE scrapbooking paper (I use a different one for each letter)
-Scrapbooking distressing ink
-Pencil
-Scissors
-Scrapbooking Adhesive
-Pop-Dots (another kind of scrapbooking adhesive)
-Glue gun & glue sticks
-Craft wire
-Wire cutters
-Ribbon
-Flowers
-Any other embellishments you prefer

1. Stain the wood at least TWO days prior to beginning project. I would first sand down any rough edges, wipe off the sawdust, and then stain the wood letters.

2. Then - trace the letters onto your paper. I trace it on the back...so you can't see any pencil lines. I then trace inside of those lines - about a centimeter - and THAT is the one I cut out. I like my paper to sit just a little inside the wood.

3. I lay the paper on the wood to see what it looks like..and then "tweak/cut" any areas that need a little fixing up.

4. I like to ink the edges of the paper..it gives it a more finished look....in my opinion. I used a ligth brown on these blocks.

5. Mod podge!! Paint a light layer of mod podge on the first block - then quickly lay the paper on top. Carefully run your fingers over the paper, get any bubbles out, and push down all around the edges. Do NOT put mod podge on top....yet! This is a trick I learned...I do the top layer AFTER this coat dries....this reduces the risk of the paper bubbling up. Finish putting paper on all of your blocks. Don't rush this part. The more time I take, the better they always turn out!

6. When the first layer has dried - I then paint a top layer of mod podge on top of the paper and wood. Make sure to get any drips off the sides of the wood....if there is a lot dripping down, it will dry white!

7. I let this completely dry before adding embellishments (ribbon, flowers, rhinestones, etc.)

8. For the "I" ...I had them drill holes in the flower part AND the "i." I then took some of my craft wire, folded a piece in half, wrapped it around my pencil - to get the twisted look, and then trimmed it down to the size I wanted. I put some glue (from my handy glue gun) in both holes, and then stuck the wire in the holes....and held onto it until the glue dried. I then had to maneuver the wire a little until it looked JUST the way I wanted it to.

9. Add your ribbon, flowers, "bling, bling" where-ever you please!

10. Sit back, admire your craft, and make sure that everyone who passes by hears you say, "I MADE THAT!" Tee, hee!

Hopefully this little tutorial is enough to help some of you crafters out there do a little project like this one. Feel free to ask questions if you are confused! Good luck!

Hanging Wood Letters or Wreaths

Cute and practical way of hanging letters and a tutorial on how to make the letters from This and That:

within this tutorial i will show you how i hang my letters so i do not have to put any holes in the door! (i hang my wreaths on my door the same way the "S" pictured below is hanging)

supplies:

paper - you can use anything from scrapbook paper to wrapping paper.

wooden letters (i got mine from the $1 store. you can get cuter thick ones at micheals for about $5 each)

glue - i used a UHU glue stick but if you want it to be really secure, use Tacky Glue.

exacto knife

scissors

pencil

mod podge

paint brush

file or sandpaper *not pictured*

heavy duty stapler *not pictured*

sticky tack *not pictured*

1. trace around the letter with the pencil, onto the paper that you would like. cut out the letter on the paper cutting so you can't see your tracing marks.

2. glue* paper letter on to front of wooden letter. (*note: may use Tacky Glue for a better stick.)

3. one the glue is dry, turn the letter upside down. if the paper is showing in any areas, simply cute it off with an exacto knife.
4. gently sand or file all the edges of your letter with a downward motion. if using sandpaper, find something for it to wrap around like shown in the picture below.

5. place letter onto a piece of wax paper and using a paint brush, mod podge it with a thin coat. make sure to get the sides of the letter as well as the top.

6. once the mod podge is dry, decide how you would like to hang your letter. (i hung mine in two different ways, i will show you how i hung the "H", for the "S", i just looped the ribbon around the top of the letter. see the very top or very bottom picture) If you are going to hang it with two ribbons, lay your letter on a secure work surface and lay out the ribbons how you would like them. staple them in place.
7. hold the letter in the correct place on top or the door with your hand. make sure the letter is straight and centered. Staple the ribbons in place with a few staples.
8. place sticky tack behind the letter so it doesn't move when the door is opened and closed.

USA Wood Letters

From Heartland Paper again:

USA Wood Letters:

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