How many of you have seen this big cardboard or paper maché letters in the craft store? Beautiful, ah? And with a lot of options to decorate. But, when I see my daughter’s name length, I realize thata I was going to spend a lot of money in them. So, I decided to make them myself. It was not that difficult and the things that you need, you probably have them around your house. So, let’s begin!
You will need:
- Cardboard box
- Stencil (I print some letters made in Word. Insert a Word Art in your Word document and make it big enough to cover almost all the page. I did it at 750 pt and the letters are like 9″ high.)
- Hot glue gun and sticks
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Exacto knife
- Scissors
- Things to decorate (Craft paper, gift wrap, acrylic paint, spray paint, or whatever you want to use to decorate them.)
How to make it:
- Cut the stencil with the scissors.
- Put the stencil in the cardboard and draw it with the pencil. You can put a little tape so it doesn’t slip. You must trace 2 of each letter for the two sides.
- Cut the letters out with an Exacto knife. Use the ruler to make sure the lines are straight.
- For the sides, cut long cardboard strips of 1.5″ wide.
- Start the assembly putting hot glue and attaching the cardboard strips to the letter border. If the letter has a hole in the middle start making the hole border first. You must bend the cardboard so it fits in the borders.
- Put hot glue in the top of the finished border and put the other side of the letter.
- Cut any excess and you have made a 3D cardboard letter!
- Now it’s time to use your imagination and decorate them. Since mine are for my daughter’s Frozen birthday, I decorate some of them with a silver gift wrap with snowflakes that I had left from past Christmas. The other half, I painted them with acrylic paint and put some white cardstock simulating snow. You can use whatever you want and add flowers, beads or literally anything.
8 letters are as long as my rectangular eating table for 6 people
Hope you liked this post. Please share and comment if you try to do this 3D cardboard letters and share your pics with us.
A Reason to Craft 
How big are those letters you made ??? and how did you trace it to be bigger than what we print out on word?
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They are aprox 9″ big. I printed them that big. Insert a WordArt with the letter you want and make it 750pt for aprox 9″ letters. They were big enough that I had to put them in the floor instead of the table. Hope it helps.
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