Christmas Craft - Inspirational Words

Today’s little craft project has taken two hours* but might be the most fun I’ve ever had craft-wise.  I’ve seen lots of homes around where people have painted craft letters to make words they find inspirational or fitting so this idea is by no means new.  It’s just my take on it.  So, to the craft part! 

First up, you’ll need craft letters that spell out words you like.  Initially I was going for “Joy”, “Hope”, “Peace” and “Love”, all of which I associate strongly with my family**.  Charles thought the fact that I’d included the word “peace” was hysterical and more ironic than anything else.  Then Bunnings didn’t have any H’s in stock.  After abandoning Charles’ inspired suggestion to simply use an apostrophe instead of an “H” giving me ‘ope instead of Hope, I was left with “love” and “joy”.

You will also need to choose some nice paper.  Since I have impulse control issues when it comes to craft supplies, not only did I score the scrapbooking paper I was going to use but I also went slightly nuts and splashed out on three gorgeous sheets of Japanese parchment paper with gold highlights through them.  They were almost three times the cost of the scrapbooking paper, but I DON’T CARE.  Incidentally, the scrapbooking paper was by far and away the easiest medium to work with.  Japanese parchment paper is closer to thick tissue paper, tended to go a bit soft even with almost no glue at all and was harder to cut with the utility knife.  The choice is obviously yours.

Back to business – prepare your letters – this basically means peel the price tag off and use your utility knife to trim any ragged bits.

I have chosen to paint the face of the letter in a colour contrasting my papers.  I also painted the rims of the letter in a bright gold to give it some sparkle and a bit more depth.

The choice of the “O” as the letter that gets covered in the pretty paper was deliberate.  Not only does it show off a fair amount of your chosen paper, but it’s also easier to cut the paper off with your utility knife when you’re done.  You can, of course, choose any letter you like.  You could do all of them in paper.  Just remember that the final stage involves using a utility knife to carefully cut the paper from your letters.

After your paint has dried paint the top of the letters that are going to have paper SPARINGLY with craft glue***.  I cannot stress this enough!  Too much glue will make your paper bubble and melt.  Bleugh.  Just spread a couple of drops as thinly as possible and make sure the entire surface of the letter is covered. 

The easiest way to do this next step is to place your paper right side down and pop the letter on top.  Press down evenly.  Flip the letter over and run your finger gently over the top to make sure the letter is smooth.  Leave to dry.

Now that your letter is dry flip it right side down onto a cutting board and run a very sharp utility knife around the edge.  Again, I have to stress this part so you don't make the same mistake as I did.  Before you start cutting anything, put down the knife and check that there is a cutting board underneath.  You'd have to be really stupid to forget that there was no cutting board under the paper bag you're using as a backdrop to paint your letters on.  Anyways, using a nice sharp utility knife should give you a clean line on the paper and your letter should be perfect.

If you’re hopeless with a utility knife (like me), especially with a sharp one, you’ve probably managed to shave bits of your letter’s rim off in the process.  Now is a good time to touch up the rim.  

And voila!  Awesome letters of love and joy!

*  Admittedly I was frequently interrupted by the little Viking looking for a fix.

**  “Eat”, “bicker” and “sleep” are just as appropriate in our case but not nearly as romantic.

You will need:

Craft letters – the cheapest ones I found were at Bunnings where I paid $1.12 for the little ones and $1.78 for the big ones.

Paper – choose something you love and then choose your paints to complement it.  Smaller patterns are better because you’ll see more of it on the letter.  For bigger patterns just be mindful to place your letter over a particular part of the pattern that you love.  As mentioned above, scrapbooking paper is ideal but there are prettier options in harder-to-handle forms. Scrapbooking paper starts at $1 and goes up to $3 a sheet.  The Japanese parchment pages were $3.70 each and about a third of the size as the scrapbook paper.

Paint – I’ve used artist’s acrylics and they start at $3 a tube at Bunnings. The gold is about $7.  You can get cheaper brands in the cheapie variety stores like Hot Dollar and The Reject Shop but they tend to be quite watery.  Spend the extra $$$ and go for quality - the tubes are huge and will last for ages.

Craft glue – good ol’ PVA.  Every home should have some.  $2 for a 50ml small bottle but why would you when 500ml will keep you going for a lifetime and set you back $5?  
*** Alternatively one blog reader has recommended spray adhesive for a nice, even, non-liquid coverage.  I think this is an awesome idea and clearly a lot smarter than the old PVA.  The thing is that spray adhesive terrifies me because, while basically craft competent, when I mess up, it's spectacular and I am convinced that one of those moments will eventually be macing myself with spray adhesive.  I don't know why I think this...I just do.

Paint brush – this is going to sound really odd.  The best craft brushes I’ve ever found are at Bunnings in the craft section and they go for $1.27 a pop.  I love them.  They are cheap.  Go now, buy many.