DIY Nursery Letters

I love 'em! And I love the ones I got for Jacob, however I paid around $10 a letter, that's $50 for his name. But they were custom painted and in a font I liked. Well, I knew I wanted to do the same for Isabella too, but I didn't want to pay at least $80 for her name. Ah, no thank you! So I did a search for ideas, and I found a ton of tutorials for letters. Here's what I did:

Wooden letters - $25 for 8 @ 8"
Scrapbook paper - 3 pieces @ 25¢ each
Mod Podge - $3
Ribbon - $4
Ladybugs - 5 @ 25¢ each
Acrylic paint - On hand
Total= $34 or $4.25 a letter

1. I bought my letters on Ebay. I price compared with a few sites, and sellers, and found one that worked for me. I was also looking for a specific font. The same font I used for Jacob's letters.

2. Once you get your letters, depending if they're finished or not, you might need to paint them. I actually only painted the edges white. You may also have to sand them down a little, I didn't. Too lazy.

3. I then figured out which pattern I wanted for each letter and traced each letter on to the paper accordingly. Don't forget to trace them backwards. I did it the wrong way, once. Then, cut them out with scissors.

4. Now get out your mod podge, and your sponge brush. I painted the front of the letter with podge, and placed the paper on top. After the podge dried, I painted a layer of podge on top of the paper and on the sides of the letter. After that layer dried, I applied a second layer to the paper.

5. After the letters had dried, I cut my ribbon for each letter, and hot glued it to the back of each letter.

6. This step is definitely optional, but I wanted to add embellishments. I chose ladybugs and bows. I just placed them where I wanted them and hot glued them on. Piece of cake!

And viola, they're done! And for a lot less than I've seen on the web. Also, these could be made for a few bucks. I've seen people use card board or foam letters. Be creative!