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Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Make and Decorate Your Own Letter Standee



Letter standees are "a thing" these days. From wedding and birthday party decorations to kids' room and nightstand display, they add charm and cool vibe to the place. That's why I made these, with my baby's initials, JK. I love how they turned out. The design looks too girly but my baby is a girl and pink is kind of the official color for little girls. 

I've seen a lot of these for sale that are ready to be decorated but I always missed buying one. Besides, I thought that it would be better to make one myself so I can choose the font and size I want. Now, let me show you how I made my custom letters.


I started with choosing a font. I was thinking of a curvy font at first, but I decided to choose a simple one and to just overdecorate it later. 



The next step would have been easier if I have a printer working, too bad, I haven't got a new ink cartridge still. So, I just traced the letter on the laptop monitor. After cutting it from the paper, I used it to draw out the letter on the cereal box. You may use any cardboard box for this, as long as it's sturdy for the project.


I made two letter Js, the one for the back is a mirror image.


I cut a width of 1.5 inches of cardboard for the sides, this would be the thickness of the letter. Next is to attach it in between the cut out Js. To attach this, you can tape the side around the letter using a masking tape. Again, unfortunately, I have to do the long way because I don't have a masking tape on hand. I used hot glue on this process because it dries instantly.





I cut strips of cardboard, scored and folded it, and glued to the side of the letter J that would go inside.


I then glued the side to those strips.



This time, I glued the folded strips on the sides so I could just glue the other letter J on top. If you want to make your letter standee heavier, you can put in crumpled paper inside before you close it.




To make it sturdier, I cut small strips of paper and paste them on the letter, like doing paper mache. Only, I used a mixture of water and white glue instead of paper mache paste. If you want the letter thicker or heavier, paper mache paste is better, I think.


I did two layers of the paper strips and glue. It's now finished and ready to be decorated. You can choose to paint it to cover the whole letter. What I did is use scrapbook paper to cover it and decorate.




I cut the piece that will cover the sides first. My letter is 1.5 inches thick, I cut the paper into 2 inches wide to make it a little bit wider so it can be folded to the front and back a little.




Then, I drew the letter J and a mirror image of it on the paper, for the front and the back, cut it and glued it on.



I used a stamp pad on the edges to make some distressed effect. The wrapping is done. If you want a cute and simple letter, it's already good as it is like that, but I was in the mood for overdecorating so I decided to add more stuff.



I crocheted a butterfly and a flower, and applied the water and glue mixture to stiffen them.




I also made these simple wire and beads embellishments to add sparkle.



I arranged the items on the letter first and finalized where I want to stick them on, and when I was already sure that it's where I wanted each one to be, I put them on the letter permanently using hot glue.


Ta-da! My very own letter standees. The letter J couldn't stand alone so I taped it to K. So if your letter is curvy like C or O, make the bottom a little straighter or put something heavy inside the letter to make it stand and stay in place.

That's it. Thanks for reading!




41 comments:

  1. I've been wanting to do this! Thanks for sharing :)

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  2. How I wish I can do DIY :-) I am not that artistic I can visualize what I want but I am not good how to do it

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    1. I'm usually just winging it, believe me, I could make another blog just for my unsuccessful projects, lol.

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  3. You really are a DIY diva! :) Laveet!

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  4. I wanted to buy letters for my son's name, but your post encourages me to make my own. But I'm afraid the outcome is not as good as yours!

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    1. If you don't wanna start from scratch, there are ready made letters you can buy, the brown ones, so you still get to decorate it the the way you want.

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  5. Galing! I truly admire your resourcefulness and creativity. Thanks for sharing. -Macy

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    1. At hinahabaan ko rin pasensya ko, pag pumapalpak, haha. Thank you.

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  6. So cute. You are so good at this. Makes me want to start my own DIY stuff.

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    1. When you have time, you should, it's actually relaxing. Thanks.

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  7. Wow! You're so creative! Thank you for teaching us how to diy these letters. They are very expensive when you get them from Divisoria.

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    1. Thank you. I just really wanted to give it a personal touch, ya know, kikay design for my little girl.

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  8. Hello Kat! Your letters are soo nice! At ang tyaga mo maggantsilyo ha :) You're one crafty mommy! I make cardboard letters too but I use crepe paper and water and glue mixture to decorate them. Keep on crafting!

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    1. Thank you. That's a good idea, crepe paper sticks perfectly on the surface.

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  9. Those are lovely standees! Great DIY ideas!

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  10. That is so pretty! DIY definitely beats buying those letter standees from a craft store. :)

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    1. Yes, and it's always made with love. Thank you!

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  11. Oh wow, I'm impressed at how smoothly you've done the cutting and measurements. I don't think I can do this as well as you do, but my husband might be able to. He's more crafty than me. hehe.

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    1. Being too meticulous takes more time though, haha. Thank you!

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  12. I've been collecting cereal boxes because I wanted to do something like this too but O don't know how to start.. Thanks for sharing this. ♥

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    1. Pinterest is the key to success, haha. There are lots of upcycling ideas you can find there. You're welcome.

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  13. Very neatly done! I like everything on what you made!

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  14. This is so cute I wish I could make them! I'm so tempted to try this today but I don't want my kids to be around to mess it up. LOL

    PS: I'm reading some of your old DIY posts and enjoying all of them! I love your creativity mommy! :)

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    1. Yes, they sure will, haha. I made a flower for my baby to play with to keep her busy, but still, she kept on coming back to my working area to take more stuff, haha. Thank you so much!

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  15. This is nice, I've actually bought some of these in Divisoria and I felt I can make them at home. Will try this one of these days. Thanks!

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    1. If you don't want to start from scratch, the ones from Divi, the plain ones are nice, you still get to decorate them the way you want.

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  16. Hi mommy, bought #1 standee this afternoon (the brown one) i wanted to decorate it na pang mickey mouse theme (black & red). I'm not into crafts, ngayon lang kasi mag-1 year old na yung baby ko next month. I wanted to ask sana if it's okay to use art paper (black & red) na idikit? Or i still have to do some paper mache? Please help :(

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    1. Ok na yung art paper kasi ready to be decorated na yang number 1 mo, just make sure na kung glue gagamitin mo pandikit spread mo ng manipis at dun sa 1 iapply tapos tsaka mo idikit yung paper, gamit ka paintbrushh kung meron pag wala kahit daliri basta manipis at even madali kasi magwrinkle ang art paper.

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    2. Btw, pwede rin pala gamitan ng acrylic or poster paint or even water color though hindi ko pa natry, nakita ko lang sa iba.

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  17. Thanks for the quick response mommy! Kakabili ko lang ng art paper kanina.will try it first tapos kapag hindi mag work saka na yung painting. Tight budget po kaya try ko muna yun. Sana maganda din tulad nung sayo walang wrinkles 😊

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  18. hi.. super artistic ng pagkakagawa mo :) anong font po gamit nyo? thanks :)

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    1. I actually don't know, haha. Basta nagsearch lang ako ng image ng letter J sa Google, tapos madami na lalabas, madami kang choices.

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  19. Very nice DIY craft...you're great mommy..thanks for sharing...love it!

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  20. Very nice DIY craft...you're great mommy..thanks for sharing...love it!

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