christy's creative chaos: recycled

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

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

Fireflies & Jellybeans Friday Blog Party

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

brought to you by the letter M

I was inspired by this post at Calamity Anne's Adventures last week, F is for Fleetwood. She altered a GIANT paper mache letter and it turned out really cool! I found some of those big paper mache letters at joann.com but being impatient (and crafty, hehe), I decided to make my own.

I found a fun tutorial for making your own paper mache letters over on Me Like Stuff. But, I was thinking, that is alot of work for something I am just going to cover in paper anyway...like I said, impatient! I don't want to wait for paper mache to dry!

So...I came up with my own design, using RECYCLED PRIORITY MAIL BOXES! Any cardboard would work, but I like the sturdyness of these boxes, and using scraps from several different boxes, you get a consistent thickness, texture, etc. I save used boxes, and cutting them in to manageable pieces makes them easier to store. For this project I broke out my stack of 7 x 7 inch squares.

First, I cut out 2 simple letter Ms, one for the front, one for the back. I just used a ruler and pencil, but you can use a computer to print a big letter and trace it onto your cardboard. Next, I cut 1½ inch wide strips of cardboard to fit all sides of the letters. I broke out the trusty glue gun and started gluing things together.

The hot glue was messy and squished out the sides. I just let it cool then used a craft knife to trim off the excess. My front and back pieces did not align perfectly when I finished, so I just trimmed away the extra, also with my craft knife.

TaDa! Chunky cardboard letter M! (Measures about 6½ by 6½ by 1½ inches)

I am loving black and white lately, so I chose this fab pattern from my scrapbooking stash:

One sheet wasn't large enough to do both sides of the letter, so I covered the other side in black. Now I can have two different looks, solid black or black and white:

I covered the sides with the remaining pattern paper:

Cute, cute letter M:

And because I can NEVER just leave well enough alone...I inked the edges with some Charcoal Chalk Ink:

The black side was a little to blah for me...so I took embellished with some of my ribbon yoyos.

Here's M with my paper rose ball and those black birds I love so much:

And the other side of M:

Costwise, this project was super duper cheap. I didn't have to buy anything! Recycled cardboard (free), hot glue and glue gun (on hand), paper (original cost, less than $1 for both cardstock and pattern paper) and chalk ink (on hand, optional, $2 new).

I think my little display is complete! I need to hang a shelf to place them on. I will share pics soon!

Went thrifting with my youngest sister this weekend and found lots of treasures. Here is a sneak peek of projects in progress:

shh, it's a secret!