DIY Marquee Letter

So the diy marquee letter madness continues! I picked up a few of Heidi Swapp’s mini letters at Target on clearance. I was happy to find an L for my Mom for her birthday. At first I thought of giving it to her blank so she could decorate it, but decided I would like to do it instead.

To personalize it more, I decided to include photos on the letter. Being the L it made for a few flat surfaces to attach photos.

I chose a few shots of us from this year and converted them all to black and white. Sized them accordingly, printed and cut with an exacto knife.

I wanted to experiment more with the outside of this letter than I did with the ones I decorated for my studio. Here.

I used some FolkArt Home Decor Chalk Paint in the color cascade, a shade of turquoise, to paint the outside. It’s a little more blue than green. I am a messy painter and project maker, I just quick slapped the paint on with a foam brush & hope for the best. I love the matte finish, almost gives it an antique look. It’s definitely possible to get that antique look by using the wax coating by FolkArt. I’ve also seen some cool metallic paints that look like galvanized metal.

After the paint color dried I chose the pattern paper, a design by Maggie Holmes, that came in a variety pack. I wanted a smaller scale design due to the narrow fit. I adhered American Crafts glitter tape in white to the interior edge of the letter to give it some reflection when the lights are on.

I adhered the photos around the edge using Tombo Mono Multi Liquid Glue. I have used this glue for years for DIY projects and it always works well.

To add some embellishment I wrapped some yellow fiber and turquoise baker’s twine around the stem of the L and added a gold paper clip heart. The heart is by American Crafts and was found in HomeGoods. I layered some prima flowers with a brad and attached to the bottom corner of the L. It’s amazing how many Prima flowers I have even though I’ve purged tons!

I was happy with how it came out and it was not difficult to execute this design. My Mom really loved it! She even went out and bought some letters to decorate for other people.