Quick craft: letter decor
For the past few years I've been making furniture, primarily for libraries to fill indoor photo booths. I have to play a few sections but I don't seem to fill in a lot of props and sometimes they seem pretty empty. So I started making smaller props to fill the shelves and add more realism to my diorama.
Today we made a "letter decoration" (I can't think of the best name) out of some wooden letters. Found this at a shop called Tedi and thought it was made for notes but the size is perfect for a fashionable doll. It's a pretty simple product, so I'll show you two different designs.
For this work you will need:
- Small wooden letters for notes.
- Wooden ice cream sticks and/or coffee stirrers.
- Handmade painting.
- white glue or hot glue.
- scissors or cutters.
Let's start with the simplest design, it's actually the last thing I did. I took the letters to write the word "home". You can write whatever you want, but short words work best.
I painted my Sea Glass color using Americana acrylics because I wanted the color to be clear yet subtle. If you like the kind of bare wood you can leave it as is.
While the letters were drying, I sliced the ice cream stick and used it as a base. The size depends on the size of your letter and the space you want to give it, but it should be around 6cm. I cut it with scissors rather than scissors to get a sharper edge.
After sanding the edges a bit, I painted them white with acrylic paint.
When everything is dry, glue the letters on with hot glue or white glue. I would suggest creating a space first. I put tape here and there to help stretch.
And that's the bottom line. I know there's nothing wrong with that and I'm not the first to do this, but I wanted to give it some time.
Now let's move on to the second design. It takes a little more work but still very easy. Let's make a wooden base on which we will glue our letters. I started by leveling 6 wooden coffee blenders and measuring the size I needed. I ended up making two, one 6.5 cm (2.56 inches) and the other 8 cm (3.15 inches). I ended up using the smallest one for the design although what you see in the photo is amazing.
Cut the sticks to the desired size.
Measure, cut and glue the two crossed sticks to hold them all together. Make sure these pieces are a bit smaller so they don't pop up when we flip them.
When everything is dry it's time to paint. I decided to paint it with the same water based paint I use on my wooden floors. If you don't have any stains at home, you can use acrylic paints to achieve an effect similar to the one I demonstrated on the box's cantilever column .
While the stain/paint was drying I painted them with white acrylic inscriptions. This time I want the poster to say "fall," but you can choose any other word.
Once everything is dry it's time to glue white glue. Again, I used masking tape to line up the letters. Take your time and take your time.
And here is the result.
Let's take a picture with the new character. Let's try "Homemade". I used a matching sea glass wall to see how it looked. It gave me a subtle touch that at first seemed too subtle because I was making the first "drop". But after taking a picture with him, I really liked it.
We go to the "October". In this photo I'm using a new wall created by Light Buttermilk .
I tried blush pink on the wall here. I stuck it to the wall with putty to try something different.
I think it's a quick and easy idea to make decorations for your diorama. I plan to design "Christmas" using the same method as the autumn sign. There are also other options that you can do with this idea. For example, you can make an ice cream stick in the shape of a "G" and use letters to make the edge of the book.
One day while I was working on this post, I came across these wooden stars at a decoration shop called Casa . They are made to be scribbled on the table, but because they are made of wood, they function like letters.
In the future I plan to make other "small decorations". A while ago I printed some sketches but didn't buy the handcrafted foam I needed to make them. I also wanted to make a snake plant to add some greenery to the shelf. I also have a bank idea, but I need a bit more for that. Anyway, at least I didn't leave without explaining myself first. I prefer to finish the site I'm working on and start working on some Christmas photos.
Also, I tried to restore my Facebook page . I know some of you are not active there, but if you are, I would appreciate your site. If so, make sure you like some of my recent posts and/or comments so you can see my updates on your stream.
I hope You are fine. Let me know in the comments if you plan to do something similar with your doll. I don't know if I can get a job before the holidays but if not then before the December meeting.
Tinker Monsters.
Note: The wall in the first photo is also a new Light Mocha wall from Americana Acrylics .
