crafternoon fun

Ever since Christmas I’ve gone through a creative dry spell of sorts. Once the holiday decorations came down, I found myself with a lack of inspiration. Maybe it’s the dreariness of the winter season, or the routine that comes with it, but I couldn’t seem to find anything that got me excited about being creative.

Apparently a trip to Michael’s on Saturday was just the thing to cure me! Sometime in October we repainted our bedroom from its original makeover when we bought the house. Our original idea was to paint the master bedroom a calming grey color, but it ended up being rather blue. We stuck with it for a while since we had so much other remodeling to do, and finally got around to re-painting a few months ago. Since then I’ve been trying to warm up the room with some accessories and make it a place we can relax. So often we spend our time concentrating on the part of our homes that other people see, that we neglect our personal space, where we really spend the most time.

So I did this quick little project to help personalize our space. It only took me about 10 minutes (not including drying time) and was super cheap. I think it would be a great project for any room of the house – bedroom, office, or even nursery.

First, gather your supplies: wooden letter, stain (or paint) of your choice, wood backing/mount, wood glue. Note: Michael’s and/or Hobby Lobby have several different types of wood backing in the carving/wood burning section. I chose the tree trunk because I was going for an earthy, outdoorsy feel, but you could do anything you want. Better yet, use some salvage material to back your letter.

Next, stain or paint your letter in the color of your choice. Make sure you choose something that will contrast your backing; you really want your letter to pop. If you are staining, let the stain sit on the wood for about 5-10 minutes, depending on how dark you want to go. Keep in mind that you can always put another coat on, but you can’t take it off. Then wipe off the excess stain with a clean piece of cloth.

Tada!

Once your letter is completely dry, apply wood glue to back and affix to your mount. Use a couple of heavy books to “clamp” it together and wait a few hours. Make sure not to jostle the letter when you put the books on top. Mine slid around a bit and the glue was visible. If that happens, just use a few q-tips to clean it up.

The last step is to attach a picture hanger or simple wire to the back and hang on a wall! You could even attach it to an old picture frame and stand it on a desk or shelf…the possibilities are endless. (I’ll have to update what it looks like on the wall later… I ran out of picture hangers!)

Happy creating!