DIY Anthropologie Letters

As I mentioned in my last post, we're in the midst of a kitchen re-do; while plenty of things still wait to be done (cabinetry hardware, countertop installation, doors and trim painted, junk sorted), I could not seem to rest until that one blank space on our wall, which formerly housed a DIY chalkboard (that I accidentally trashed with paint markers) was filled. Blank walls make me nervous. Know what I mean?

I hit up TJ Maxx and, after having three children there for two hours, we came up with nada for the wall. I searched Etsy for some incredible handcrafted masterpiece aaaaaaand, nothing. Nothing in my cheapskate price range anyway. FINALLY, I remembered the oversized wall-letters I pinned some time ago. I started wondering if I could pull this project off or if it would result in an oversized mess in our kitchen... My curiosity won and we headed to the craft store, with only two littles in-tow this time.

I know you all have seen these. I know some of your are probably wondering if this super-easy craft is blog-worthy. However, I must tell you, I am a reformed non-crafter. All this crafting business is still new to me. I don't even own a glue gun yet. GASP! I'm amazed at how inexpensive and simple this was and, of course, that it actually worked without me gluing my fingers together, spilling a gallon of paint on the new floor, or catching something on fire. I'm just being honest.

Here it is.

See these? $98 for one letter? We won't be needing them.

Two of the littles and I went to Jo Ann Fabrics and picked up one of these. With a coupon, I think it was about $5. It's made of paper mache and surprisingly well-constructed.

I had some paint on hand, Martha Stewart's black metallic and then I picked up another straight metallic from Martha's collection, also from Jo Ann's.

I used a foam brush that I already had on-hand, though I'm sure you could use a regular paint brush as well. Foam brushes are nearly a dime a dozen and deposit nicely in the nearest trash receptacle when you're finished with them. I'm all about minimal craft clean-up, folks.

I painted on a nice coat of black, then did some touch ups. After that coat dried completely (or most of the way, anyway), I moved on to a coat of metallic. You can add as little or as much as you want, depending on the look you desire. I wanted this letter to look more black than metallic. So, I think that's how it ended up.

I attached velcro to the back (also picked up at JoAnn's). Look for it by the 3M hooks.

Then, I sat back and took a sigh of relief for a craft well-done, with a DIY peppermint mocha. Yum, yum, yum.