Decoupage Wooden Letters

How to decoupage wooden letters for a baby shower or nursery.

If you follow me on Facebook you probably know that I’m going to be a grandmother. Well, I guess I already am a grandmother, I just haven’t met my grandson yet. My daughter Jamie and her husband Andy have been on a journey to adopt. They were matched earlier this year, and hope to travel to China in May. I’m helping out cousin Terry with a baby shower so I’m putting together some decorations.

These decoupaged letters will be used at the shower, but I hope Jamie loves them enough to display them in Eli’s room or playroom.

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Supplies for Decoupage Letters:

• Wooden Letters  (I got mine on sale at Hobby Lobby)
• Presentation Paper
• Printer
• Mod Podge(I used Matte purchased at the Dollar Tree)
• Sponge Brush
• Rolling Pin
• Wax Paper
• Emery Boards
• Sand Paper

Getting the design just right was a little challenging. The theme for the shower is “It’s a Small World”. I bought Eli an It’s a Small World Book on Amazon. The book is so sweet and I loved the pictures. I scanned a few pages on my scanner, then I had to get creative to get them the right size. My letters were too tall for the print to be landscape. I cropped the images to the area that I thought might look best for each letter. The presentation paper is a little glossier and heavier than regular paper. I have an inkjet printer, nothing fancy.

Trace Letters On Paper

By holding the letters and the paper up to the light in the kitchen I was able to manipulate the paper in order to get the desired image in the right place. Very carefully I laid the paper and letter on the table and traced it leaving a little space all around.

Apply Mod Podge to Wooden Letters

I highly recommend using Mod Podge in a squirt bottle. It is so easy to get it spread on the letter (and paper) this way. After squirting the Mod Podge I used the sponge applicator to smooth the out the the Mod Podge. The key is to make sure you get it all the way to the edge. I believe LESS is MORE in this case.

Apply Mod Podge to Paper

It’s helpful to also apply the Mod Podge on the back of the paper as well. I feel that putting it on the wood and the paper allows you for some “wiggle room” to get the paper just where you want it.

Secure Paper to Wooden Letter

I applied the paper to the wooden letter, positioning it where I thought it should be.

Flip Wooden Decoupage Letter to Smooth Paper

I found that turning the wooden letter over and pressing down slightly helped to make the paper be more smooth with less wrinkles and bubbles. It also make the extra Mod Podge ooze out-which I wiped away. In this picture you can see how I cut the paper a little larger than the wooden letter. I might suggest that you decide if you would rather deal with removing the extra paper, or fidget with a letter that might be a little “too close for comfort”.

Wooden Rolling Pin as a Brayer

After allowing the decoupage medium to set up I used a rolling pin (from the Dollar Store) as a brayer. This helped to smooth out the paper and make a little more glue ooze out. How long did I wait? I applied paper to one letter, set it aside, applied to the next letter, then used the rolling pin to smooth out the first letter.

Snip Paper Corners

After the Mod Podge dried, I snipped all the joints/corners with scissors.

Sand Decoupage Letter Edges with Emery Board

Emery boards are a great way to remove the excess paper around the decoupage wooden letters. On the left you can see the overhang on the letter A. On the right you can see how I’ve already filed away  the excess paper with the emery board. It’s also helpful to remove any dried on glue. You can see I buy them on Amazon by the box!

Seal Decoupage Wooden Letters with Mod Podge

I allowed everything to dry thoroughly overnight and applied three light coats of Mod Podge to seal the paper.

Sand Decoupage Letters – Shine With Brown Craft Paper

Make stands for decoupage wooden letters

I used a scrap piece of wood to make small easels for the decoupage wooden letters.

• Cut end on a 15° angle
• Flip board over, cut 1.5” (from long end)
• Make ample easels (some letters take more than one)
• Sand easels
• Paint easels (not shown)

Tape easels to back of letters

You can glue the easels if you plan to use this type of display permanently. I don’t know how Jamie might want to display her letters in Eli’s room, so I used double stick tape as a temporary display option.

PIN IT!

I absolutely LOVE the way the It’s a Small World decoupage letters turned out! I can’t wait to use them at the shower and then give them to Jamie and Andy to use in Eli’s room or playroom.

Do you have any tips for decoupaging wooden letters?

gail

edited to add:

Here are the letters displayed on the cake table at Eli's shower celebration!