Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Hanging Letter Art

I have now made 4 of my hanging letter arts.  The first one I made for my son, to match his bedspread.  It has hung in his room since.
B
I then made one for my nephew and then my niece as baby shower presents.  Since neither being born yet, there was not a theme to use to go with their likes.  (The one with the greens and blues was for my nephew, the pinks and purples for my niece.)
Niece and nephew's "M"
I have finally gotten around to making one for my little cousin, which is a good thing I didn’t do it before because I took before, during and after photos and am going to tell you how I made it. 
You will need:
1.  2 unpainted picture frames.  I like the 4-inch x 6-inch Unfinished (wood) Frame from Michael’s.  
2.  A letter.  I played around with the letter C this time, but stuck with the dimensional letters from Hobby Lobby that I have always used.
1.frames 2. the C 3. 055 4.010
5. IMG_02386.0067. 055


3.  Acrylic Paint…use any colors you like.  Mix it up.  Make it match.  I ended up using several colors this time.
4.  Mod Podge Clear Acrylic Sealer (any acrylic sealer will work)
5.   Liquid Nails
6.  2 small clamps (if you don’t have these a heavy object will also work)
7.  Embellishments
8.  Paintbrushes and paint tray or paper plates
9.  Box or tray big enough to hold finished project when ready to spray and throw away when done
10.  Sand paper
What you do:
1.  Sand the rough edges, only enough to get rid of the impurities from being cut.
2.  Paint one side of each frame and the letter (I usually start with the back, but you don’t have to paint there).  Let dry.
3.  Paint another side of each piece, let dry.
4.  Repeat step 3 until finished.  Paint a second coat on each (except the back if you painted that).
  005
I know you want to know now which is the back.  I have placed the two frames together different ways.  Usually I put the holes in the back for the bottom piece so that I can hang it from one of the holes.  I then put the holes on the other frame on top so that I can have the dimension of the sides it creates that way.  This last time I put the holes facing up on the bottom piece (the blue one) and the holes facing down on the top piece (purple).  It entirely depends on how you want it to look.
5.  After all the paint has dried you want to glue the frames together.  Place the frame bottom side down, and dab Liquid Nails around the top of the frame where the other frame is going to touch.  I always do it cock-eyed so it isn’t important unless you need to cover the holes on the bottom frame with the top frame.  Clamp the frames together and wipe off the excess Liquid Nails.  Let set for about 8 hours (I usually let it set over night).


006
6.  Once the frames have set, then dab Liquid Nails on the back of the letter and place where you want on the top frame, remember to cover the holes if you have them there.  Clamp and let set for about 8 hours
IMG_0238
7.  Liquid Nail on the embellishments.  In this case I used the little wood, painted pieces from Michael’s, and filled in a empty space with 3 little white buttons.  I have embellished with different pieces each time.  On the B, I used the swirly and painted it myself, adding my son’s name. 
8.  After letting the embellishments set, dry, then take outside and put upside down in the box, or tray.  Spray with the acrylic sealer.  Let dry for a few hours.  Flip over and spray the top side.  I usually spray the top side 2 or 3 times depending how glossy I want it.  (You can also buy Matte sealer if you don’t want it glossy at all.)
9.  Hang on wall.  This time I didn’t leave the holes on the back of the bottom frame and needed a way for it to hang up.  So I used a dab of glue and a thumb tack to attach ribbon to the back .
CIMG_0271
I hope you have fun with it and make it special.  I am thinking of ways to make them for craft fairs or other ways to sell. 


Disclaimer: I forgot a step, a bit important, there are little metal tabs in the frames that are there to hold in a picture. With a pair of pliers, pull these tabs out before sanding the edges.
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I linked this post with Amanda at
 Weekend Bloggy Reading
and with Becca at
Show and Tell Green

6 comments:

  1. What a super cute project. I'll bet that you'd sell these in a heart beat.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very cute! That makes a great baby gift.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, Alicia! Those are adorable. :) You did a great job with your step by step tutorial as well. Thanks so much for linking up with me!

    ReplyDelete

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