DIY: Take that Anthropologie!

At the risk of the ridicule that will come from my mother, I’ll admit that I like to watch Cougar Town.  Yes, Mom, it is smut but it’s funny smut. Anyhow, about the second or third episode I noticed these super fun and cute letters in Jule’s breakfast nook that spelled  "EAT" (take a looksy, you can kinda see them behind the blonde's head).  My heart swooned, and thanks to DVR I was able to go back and pause on the frame where I could see these letters I now so desired, here is a closer look.

For a couple of episodes I closely watched all the kitchens scenes trying to get a glimpse and did a few times. I had to know where these letters came from and how I could make them a part of my very own house.  Since I live in the sticks, I scoured the internet and had no luck at finding them, probably because I wasn't really sure what to search for. I finally discovered that they hail from Anthropologie, but are $14 a pop (they have since been reduced to $8 but there is a very limited selection)!  My killer mental math skills quickly determined that they would come in at fifty bucks after tax & shipping. Whoa...slow this decorating train down,  I am WAY too frugal to drop $50 on them. I ended my search disappointed and then ate a big bowl of ice cream to console myself. In my sugar induced state I thought, “Hey, I could just make those.”  After a few minutes of serious thought I realized that it won't be too hard.

So, the next day I was off to Wal-Mart to get my supplies.  As I said before, I live in the sticks so heading to Michael’s or any other craft store wasn’t an option because they are all over an hour away.  But Wal-Mart didn’t let me down and had what I needed which I determined to be:  wooden letters to spell out E-A-T and a package of patterned cardstock, I went with a Martha Stewart one that had 24 double sided sheets and could be used for multiple projects.  I already had a big tub of mod podge and paint brushes at home, but if you don’t go ahead and pick those up too.  At this point I had invested $10.54 in my project (3 letters at $1.19 each and paper at $6.97), if you don’t have mod podge figure in a few more bucks but you should still come in under $15. Keep in mind, you’re only using 3 sheets of the scrapbooking paper and there will be tons of other projects the other 21 sheets of paper can be used for. So, if you figure the cost out per sheet of paper it comes in at $0.29,so each letter comes it at $1.48, Woo Hoo!

Here we go! 

These are my letters, I opted to go with some fun whimsy ones:

Step 1: Determine your color scheme from the paper you purchased. I opted to do one color on top and a coordinating one on the sides.

Step 2:  I measured the sides of my letters, they were about an inch so I cut 1 inch strips in the colors I chose.  There was no way to do the sides with 1 continuous strip so I tried to hide my cuts as best I could. 

 Then, go ahead  and lay your letter down and trace it on the paper then carefully cut it out. 

Step 3:  Brush mod podge on the inside of the paper and then carefully apply to all sides of the letters.  After all the sides are covered apply mod podge to the outer edge of the letters.  It will appear white but don’t worry, it will dry clear. 

 Now, apply the paper to the letter, make sure to hold it tight until it dries a bit so you have a nice seemless edge:

 Step 4: Apply mod podge to the back edge of your cut out letter, then place the paper the front of the letter.  Brush a layer of mod podge to the front of your letter, be mindful of brush strokes and finger prints as those can show up on the finished product. 

 Watch those brush strokes!

Step 5: WALK AWAY, I know it’s hard, but they need time to dry.  A few hours or overnight should do the trick.

Here are mine hanging in my kitchen.  Yes, I know they are different from the ones above, I've had mine for a few months but made these for a friend who loved them:

A little closer look:

Step 6: Hang those babies up, stand back and admire your work.  You are on your way to becoming a DIY rockstar!