DIY Wood & Paper Handmade Wall Art

I’m on a mission to fill up every single inch of wall space in my office, and of course, I love to make things myself.  This project was super simple and took no time at all, and it added a little bit of extra sparkle over the door in my office.  As y’all know, I am a sucker for anything gold, but gold and sparkly?  Best!  And yes, I’m sure that’s #Basic.  But #IDontCare... gimme all the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes and yoga pants, and take me to Target while you're at it!  My office is the only space where I can decorate as crazy and kitschy as I want, so I'm taking full advantage! 

First, may I say that Brian took one look at this sign and said, “Don’t forget to be awesome?  You are so lame!”  Meanie.  You’re the one who married me.  And now that I have this daily reminder over my door, I’m pretty much guaranteed to always be a little awesomer than you.  And even if I’m not awesomer, at least I’ll always be younger.  ;o)  (And, yes, I'm aware that awesomer is not a word.)

Anyway, I can’t remember where I saw this (lame?) expression... maybe on a t-shirt on Etsy or  Groopdealz, or maybe just a meme online somewhere?  I really don’t remember, so unfortunately I can’t give credit to the appropriate source, but I thought it was catchy and cute.  So when I set out to make something to hang over my office door, this was the first phrase that popped in my head. 

The best part about this whole project?  It was totally free.  I had some scrap wood leftover from decorating Olivia’s nursery, and I had some gold glitter scrapbook paper leftover from her pink and gold first birthday party.  Throw in the computer, printer, spray paint, scissors, x-acto knife, pencil, and glue that I already had on hand, and I was ready to go.  Pretty basic stuff that most crafters people probably already have at home. 

And If you're really lucky and have a Silhouette Cameo, you can stop here and ditch this whole tutorial because there's no way you'd be caught dead tracing and hand-cutting letters.  #AintNobodyGotTimeFoDat.  I really need to get on your level and buy one.  Or, Silhouette America, if you're out there reading this, feel free to send one.  I do accept gifts.   

So, to get started now that I've gone on and on and on...

The very first thing I did was spray the wood with white spray paint so it could dry while I worked on the letters. 

I knew I wanted the letters to be gold glitter, and the gold glitter scrapbook paper won’t run through my un-fancy printer, so I had to make a stencil to trace the letters onto the scrapbook paper.  To make the stencil, I typed up the phrase in Word.  The strip of wood is 3 inches tall, so I needed the letters to be slightly smaller than that.  To make them fit on the wood, I used Century Gothic for the font, and 200 for the font size.  Obviously you can’t write on the glitter side of the paper, so I knew I needed to trace the letters onto the back of the scrapbook paper.  Since I had to trace them on the back of the glitter paper, I had to print the letters in reverse so they would come out right side up on the glitter side once they were cut out.   

To reverse letters/phrases in Word, follow these instructions: 

1. Open Word

2. Click the "Insert" tab

3. Click the "Text Box" drop down box and select "Simple Text Box"

4. Select the font and font size you want

5. Type the phrase or letters in the text box

6. Right click the corner of the text box and select "Format Shape"

7. Select "3-D Rotation"

8. In the box to the right of the "X," type "180"

You will now see that your words or phrase have been reversed, and they are now ready to print. 

Depending on your font size, you may have to print them on multiple pages, as I did. 

Once you have all of your printouts, highlight the back of each letter using a pencil.  This allows for easy transfer to your scrapbook paper. 

Lay your letters highlighted-pencil-side-down on the scrapbook paper, and carefully trace each letter with your pencil.  Once you lift the paper, you will see that each of the letters has been transferred to the scrapbook paper.  Please note that they will still be reversed on the back of the scrapbook paper. 

I jumbled all of my letters to save space on the paper!

Using your scissors or an x-acto knife, cut out each letter.  When you turn the letters gold side up, you will see that they are no longer reversed. 

To cut out the middles, I used my x-acto knife to cut a triangle in the middle to make it easy to get my scissors in there.

Lay the letters on the wood exactly where you want them to go, then lift each letter up one at a time, apply some glue (I used regular ol’ Elmer’s), and stick it down.  Repeat for each letter, and voila, you’re done!   

The best part is, you can use this method on any size of scrap wood, using any font, any font size, and any scrapbook paper.  The possibilities are endless!  And the results aren’t too shabby, either.