DIY Wooden Letters

Justin made me a big letter J a few months back and I'm finally getting around to finishing it.

It's original purpose was this:

But after a couple months of planning how to make it procrastinating, I changed my mind. I really don't think I'd like how far this sticks out from the wall. So, I decided to paint it to match our new living room and hang it above the TV instead.

DIY'ing a Hanging Letter is such a simple DIY project that no one should ever buy pre-made/designed letters from a store.

HOW TO DIY HANGING LETTERS

The easy way
Step 1: There are two ways to go about this. If you're not great with a jigsaw or don't have a handy husband who is, you can buy pre-made letters at a store like Micheals.

Step 2: Depending on the material of the letter, sand it down a little so the paint is able to soak in.

Step 3: Paint that sucker! It's a good idea to sand it down in between paint layers too.

Simple as that.

But since I have Justin by my side, we made our own letters using scrap plywood. So here's how we did it:

The DIY way
Step 1: Print/create a stencil. We printed a gigantic letter J from our computer for a stencil, and marked it onto the scrap plywood.

Step 2: Cut out the letter with the jig saw.

Step 3: Sand down the piece of wood (especially if it's plywood, it'll be rough) and make sure you even the edges out. I had to use a little sheetrock compound to fill in a few holes and scratches on the plywood for a smoother surface.

Step 4: Apply primer. Sand again.

Step 5: Apply paint. Sand off any abnormalities or paint runs.

Step 6: If you want to hang this, secure photo hangers to the back. These can be purchased at any home store (and probably places like Micheals too!)

And you're done! It really is beautifully easy. It probably took us 45 minutes to make this, including the dry time. Simple!

What do you think of the finished product?