Decorated Wooden Letters

Over the past few months I had been trying to think of a way to start decorating my girls' rooms.  We have been here for 2 years and haven't done much decorating.  I wanted to personalize their decorations to what they are interested in right now.  I decided to start small and build around the first piece.  Directions for making the craft yourself are below the pictures.

My oldest daughter (9) has been in love with all things Paris and France for the past year.  She has a city street map of Paris that she loves and has planned our future visit.  I decided to have her decoration focus on Paris.

My youngest daughter (6) loves the ocean and sea animals.  I decided to go with a beach theme and some sea animals.

 For the background you can use fabric, scrapbook paper, newspaper, tissue paper, felt, or just paint the letter and then add the embellishments.  I chose to decorate my letters with scrapbook paper, so that is what I put for supplies and in the directions.  The great thing about this project is you can tailor it to what works best for you!

To make these cute letters you will need:
Wooden letter (available at most craft stores)
scrapbook paper of your choice
stickers, pictures, buttons, silk flowers, or other decorative embellishments
Mod Podge (or other crafting glue/adhesive)
paint
paintbrush
sponge brush
ribbon (optional)
hanging hardware

For my letters, I went to Jo-Ann's.  You can get them at other craft stores and sometimes they even have them at the crafting area at the local Walmart.  I tend to shop at Jo-Ann's and Hobby Lobby most often.  We do have a Michael's nearby, but I always seem to forget it is there.  My scrapbook paper was bought at Hobby Lobby.  I bought two different theme pads because I will be able to use the other papers for crafts in the future.  Jo-Ann's is where I bought my paints.

1. The first thing I did to prepare my wood was a light sanding of the letters.
2. Then I painted 2 layers on the wood.  I painted the sides of the letters and also the area that was going to be covered with scrapbook paper.  I didn't paint the back since it will be against the wall.
3. Next I put the letters down on the back of the scrapbook paper I chose for the background and traced it, then cut the paper out.
4. I used the sponge brush to add a light layer of Mod Podge (Matte finish for this part) on the wooden letter and placed the paper on top.
5. For the decorative embellishments, I used different sections of scrapbook paper I had cut out. I put a small amount of Mod Podge on the back of the papers and placed them on top of the wooden letter that had the background paper on it.
6. I spread a thin layer of Mod Podge (Gloss this time) over the whole top of the project.  I let that layer dry, then repeated adding layers of Mod Podge two more times.

 That is it for the crafting portion of this project.  It was fun to make and my girls love having them in their rooms.

The only other thing to do is to hang your letters.  We decided to put in screw eye hooks so then I could tie the ribbon to the open part at the top.  You can try hot gluing the ribbon to the back and hanging it that way, or you can attach picture hanger hardware to the back, you can use mounting double side tape, you can tie ribbon directly onto the letter and hang it that way, or you can use a staple to attach the ribbon (depending on what type of material the letter is made of).