Crafts,  Home Decor,  Kids

Brought To You By The Letter C

February 19, 2016 / 10 Comments

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in Nov. 2013.

Last week, while perusing the Land of Nod catalog, I found these super cool Magnificent Metal Letters. I love the industrial look and that they can even be used as a tiny little shelf.

Letter C 1

I started to think about how I could make something similar on my own and that’s when I remembered seeing Becca’s DIY Cardboard Letters on Pinterest. So, I figured I would take some tips from her tutorial, but leave the front of the letter off and tweak a few things to achieve the desired look.

This is what I started with:

Letter C 2

– Cereal box swiped from the recycling bin
– Scissors
– Pen
– Template of letter C

Using the template, I carefully traced around the edges onto the cereal box.

Then I cut it out and also trimmed off the sides of the cereal box. (Depending on the size of your letter, you may also need to cut out some strips from the back of the box as well.)

Letter C 3

I attached the sides of the box to the letter with plain ol’ scotch tape. Exciting, right? But it works to hold everything in place until the paper mache’-ing is done.

Letter C 4 Letter C 5

Next, I mixed up equal parts of water and flour and dipped torn up pieces of The Nine Symphonies of Beethoven into the concoction. (I only did one layer because I didn’t want my letter to become too thick.) Each strip was applied to the C in random directions, which helped it adhere better.

Sorry, I don’t have any photos of the process. It was super messy!

Letter C 6

Lastly, I slapped on a couple of coats of black paint and I was finished.

Letter C 7

Isn’t this cool??

Letter C 8

I would love to make a more letters, so I could spell out whatever is catching my fancy and then be able to change it up for the seasons or whatever. However, I think it will be quite some time until we have enough cereal boxes saved up to complete the alphabet.

10 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.