Another project has been completed and marked off the playroom to-do list. Whew! Don’t ya just love marking things off your to-do list! After coming up with a solution for toy storage and organization and then making a Phonetic Alphabet Chart for the $10 shelves we made, it was time to get something up on the other wall above his toys. I knew I wanted letters of some sort and was on a Restoration Hardware kick, so I went searching on their site to get some ideas and finally came up with a solution. Here are my knockoff Restoration Hardware Industrial Metal Letters.

This was my inspiration….

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and….

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I didn’t want to have to cut metal or wooden letters out {ok have the hubbs do it}, and I knew I could purchase wooden letters from Hobby Lobby but then I came across Whitney’s post {from Shanty-2-Chic} and saw how cool her industrial looking letters turned out and knew this is what I wanted to do too! You can print out letters a-z and numbers 0-9 from her site and print your own!

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I basically followed Whitney’s tutorial but instead of staining the wood pieces with stain, I decided to apply my faux galvanized metal painting technique instead. I absolutely LOVE the way these letters turned out and for around $10 this project was both easy and cost friendly.

Here’s a quick rundown of how I completed this project…super easily and within 1 hour.

Supply list:

• 1″x 12″ whitewood or pinewood {4′ piece will make 5 letters at 9″ wide}
• 8′ x 10″  letters or numbers printed from Shanty-2-Chic
• Wood Stain or Craft Paint. You can follow my tutorial on creating a faux galvanized finish HERE
• Rubber Cement
• Furniture Nails
• Picture Hangers
• Saw
• Sander/Sand Paper

What you do:

Step 1: Purchase a 1×12 from your local home improvement store, we got ours from Lowes. A 4 foot board is around $6 and like Whitney said, this will make {five} 1″x12″x9″ letters. Lowes will cut your wood for you if you give them the dimensions if you do not have a saw at home or are not feeling up for cutting wood today.

Step 2: Print your letters. Whitney made 8×10′s available in letters a-z and numbers 0-9 and will be designing 5×7′s sometime soon. I had mine printed at Staples on a medium weight cardstock for about $1 a piece. This saved a lot of ink from my home printer.

Step 3: While your letters are printing, lightly sand the edges of your wood pieces. If you plan to stain your wood pieces, you can wait and do this step after staining to create a distressed look.

Step 4: Paint your wood pieces. You can follow my tutorial here for creating a faux galvanized metal finish. Instead of painting the entire board, I just painted around the edges and in enough so that the paper letters would cover the rest. Why waste paint when you don’t have to?

Step 5: After your paint is dry and letters are printed, glue your letters to the wood pieces with rubber cement. I loved using rubbed cement on this project because it goes on easy, doesn’t show through the paper, and can be easily removed if I decide to change out letter in the future.

Step 6:  Now take your furniture tacks and nail them into the corners of your letters onto the wood to give them an industrial feel.

Step 7: Install your picture hangers to the back of your wood letters and hang them up!

Here’s an up-close and personal shot just to give you an idea of how mine turned out.

Our little man loves to look up at the letters and we love talking about them. This art is both functional and fun.

As you can see, someone is happy about his new letters too! He was dancing and pointing…love this kid!!

Like Whitney mentioned in her post, these letters/numbers can be printed and inserted into a 8″ x 10″ picture frame as well or use on a canvas to make DIY Photos on Canvas….or get creative and do something else fun.

Please pin this post and come join me on my social media outlets! Have a great day, cheers!

Linking to:

Just Something I whipped Up @ The Girl Creative
Chic and Crafty @ The Frugal Girls
Made By You Monday@ Skip to My Lou
Making Monday’s Marvelous @ C.R.A.F.T.
Tutes & Tips @ Home Stories A 2 Z
Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays @ Coastal Charm
Tip me Tuesday @ Tip Junkie
Get your craft on Tuesday @ Today’s Creative Blog
Show me What ya got @ Not JUST a Housewife
Tuesday Talent Show @ Chef in Training
@ Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
One Project at a Time @ Bowl Full of Lemons
Take a look Tuesday @ SugarbeeCrafts
We’re Organized Wednesday’s @ Organize and decorate Everything
Power of Paint @ Domestically Speaking
Show and Tell @ Blue Cricket Design
Wow us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style
Happy Hour @ Design, Dining and Diapers
Strut your stuff @ Somewhat Simple
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Creek Cottage
Hooking up with HoH @ House of Hepworths
Tutorial, Tips & Tidbits @ Stone Gable
@ Common Ground
@ 36^thAvenue
Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous
Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest
Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed
Saturday Night Special @ Funky Junk
Weekend Wrap Up Party @ Tatertotsand Jello
Show and Tell @ Be Different Act Normal
Sunday Showcase party @ Under the Table & Dreaming
Thrifty Decor Chick