letter S and A to go with M

The response to my cardboard letter M tutorial was amazing! Several readers asked about making curved letters...ooh, a challenge! I love me a challenge :O)

I decided on a lower case a and letter S.



LETTER S:

First thing, I printed out my letters in publisher, just the outlines (why waste ink?), in a basic, bold, no frills font. I made the letters 6 by 6 inches, traced them onto cardboard and cut them out, ending up with 2 letters.



For the sides of the letters, I cut the longest possible 1½ inch strips of cardboard, making sure the corrugation went SIDE TO SIDE, not lengthwise. Then I bent and rolled the strips until the surface tension was broken and they were nice and bendy.



Following the same basic steps I used when I made my letter M, I hot-glued the sides onto the bottom letter. **I used HOT MELT glue for these letters instead of the low temp glue I used on the M. It takes longer to cool and gave me more time to manipulate the cardboard into place. The bendy cardboard was actually really easy to work with. Of course, I burned the crap outta myself a few times, but that's the price you pay for making something AWESOME! :O)



If a strip of cardboard was too short for the whole side, I just added another small piece to get to the end. When an edge was finished, I cut the strip off and used a separate piece for the end. Folding the strip around a corner was too bulky and I wasn't happy with the way the corners looked.



I continued around the letter until I had all the sides put on.



**I switched to craft glue at this point. Using hot glue to glue on the front/lid of the letter was a huge pain. By the time I got the glue all the way around, the glue where I started was cool again! So...I switched to some plain white craft glue. This gave me longer to move the front/lid into place, then I set a couple of books on top to hold things in place while the glue dried.



As with the letter M, the front and back will not line up perfectly. Just use a craft knife to trim the mismatched edges, and trim off any excess hot glue. I had LOTS of excess hot glue this time :O)



To cover the curved letter, I just glued paper on the front, and clipped all the edges like so:



I used a glue stick to stick it down.



I used black cardstock on the back and sides.





And of course, CHARCOAL CHALK INK all around the edges. This ink is my *drug* of choice. If I don't have 2 or 3 extra backup pads in my stash, I get antsy :O)



LETTER A:

Same basic steps...I started in the middle, worked my way out...yada yada yada. I haven't finished the outside yet...but you get the picture :O)



Nest I really want to try some really BIG letters!

This week my Mom's blog was featured on DOLLAR STORE CRAFTS, so exciting! She has a crackle paint technique using ELMER'S GLUE that I am itching to try! Maybe on some cardboard letters...hmmmmm :O)

Please go check it out!



Linking up with:

Trash to Treasure Tuesday at Reinvented




Transform Tuesday Blog Party at The Pumpkin Patch




Whatever Goes Wednesdays Blog Party at Someday Crafts




Look What I Made! Blog Party at Creations by Kara




Show & Tell Wednesday Blog Party at Blue Cricket Design




Be Inspired Blog Party at Room to Inspire



Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple



I Made It Blog Party on Everything Etsy



Hooking Up With House of Hepworths



Show Off Your Stuff Party at Fireflies and Jellybeans

Big A** Paper Bows from Old Maps

I taught scrapbooking and paper crafting classes for several years. One of my best-selling kits consisted of some pre-cut strips of paper and instructions for making your very own paper gift bows. I had to share! These are SO EASY you'll be whipping them out in no time!



The bows I'm featuring are JUMBO and made from old MAPS. The instructions show some decorative scrapbook paper and heck, I wasn't going to retake a bunch of pictures
just because the paper changed...so as you go through them, just imagine you're looking at a double-sided map of New York instead of the floral print I used :O)

All you need: Paper Cutter, Glue, Foam Tape, Old Map (I took a warm iron to my maps to get out most of the folds/wrinkles...it didn't always work, depends on the condition of the map! Another option, go make a photocopy of the map on the biggest paper possible. Make sure to do it double-sided, as both sides of the map will show on your finished bow.)

Firstly, here is the cutting guide for the JUMBO (8 inch) bows:



Start with 13 strips of paper cut according to the diagram.



Fold and adhere the eight 12x2 inch strips into loops as shown. Adhere two loops together, end-to-end, ending up with 8 of these:



Adhere two sets together, forming two of these:



Set aside.

Repeat with the remaining 4 strips. (You end up with 3 sets, one slightly smaller than the other two.)

Roll the last (shortest) strip into a ring and adhere with the ends overlapped about ½ an inch.



Place a square of double-sided foam adhesive in the center of each piece.



Starting with a large set, stack and adhere the loops, turning each set about 45 degrees so the loops set between the loops of the layer below. The top layer should be the smaller of the 3 loop sets. Add the paper ring to the very center.



Pop some foam adhesive on the back, stick it to your gift, and you are good to go!

Here are cutting guides for standard (4 inch) and mini (2 inch) bows:




When I learned this technique, I went a little BOW CRAZY :O) Here are some more examples:





Funny story (aka, I'm still kicking my own ass story), I listed these on Etsy last winter, and someone from a MAJOR magazine contacted me, saying they needed some samples asap for their Christmas issue. I did not log in for a few days and was too late to meet their deadline. See? kicking-my-own-ass! pfft.

Trying this project? I WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOUR BOWS! Comment me a link and I'll give you a shout-out! I can't wait to see what you make :O)

Craft on ladies, craft on.

Linking up with:

Trash to Treasure Tuesday at Reinvented




Transform Tuesday Blog Party at The Pumpkin Patch




Whatever Goes Wednesdays Blog Party at Someday Crafts




Look What I Made! Blog Party at Creations by Kara




Show & Tell Wednesday Blog Party at Blue Cricket Design




Be Inspired Blog Party at Room to Inspire



Strut Your Stuff Mother's Day Ideas at Somewhat Simple



I Made It Blog Party on Everything Etsy



All Things Dreamy Blog Party on Sweet European Dreams



Hooking Up With House of Hepworths



Show Off Your Stuff Party at Fireflies and Jellybeans



I'm So Crafty Fridays at Fun To Craft



Hodgepodge Friday at It's A Hodgepodge Life



Saturday is Crafty Day at Along for the Ride