Diy wooden map letters

These decorated wooden letters are a super easy diy with big impact and endless possibilities. I've done some for both kids' rooms, but these map ones are my favorite.

The craft letters I bought at Michaels.  They can be found at any craft store and even at Wal-Mart. You could cut letters out of cardboard if you didn't mind them being flat, and there are also tutorials online to make your own 3D letters. Since I was only doing four letters, I didn't mind spending money on them.

Getting the vintage maps is all about the thrill of the hunt.  You can find them at flea markets, antique stores, junk and rummage sales, and online.  I bought mine off of Etsy because I didn't have a junk sale shopping spree scheduled.  They're pages out of a 1960's atlas. So cool.

Your basic order of operations for this project are trace, cut, glue, dry, glue; but I'll add some details to share a few tips I have come across from doing it wrong a couple times.

• First I took a good look at my maps to see which parts I wanted on my letters, taking into consideration the colors on the maps and how they would add to the colors in the room.  I found the prettiest parts and laid out my letters to trace,

• When tracing, I always trace on the back of the paper to avoid pen or pencil marks on the fronts of the letters.  If you are going to trace on the back, make sure you also flip the letter, so you're technically tracing it backwards. Usually I use pencil. but for this project I used a pen because I couldn't see the pencil lines on the map.

• The next step always reminds me I need to return to kindergarten because I am a terrible cutter-outter.  I cut out each letter from the maps and placed them with their corresponding wooden letter. It is better to cut outside the tracing so that you have a tiny bit extra instead of it being a tiny bit too small.

• Next, I squeezed some of my modge podge onto a paper plate and grabbed my foam brush.  It is important to move fairly quickly in this step.  Brush a thin coat of the modge podge onto the front of your wooden letter, and then lie the paper letter over the glue.  If you're a terrible cutter like me, you will have to line them up the best you can and you'll have a little bit of trimming to do.

• After all the letters were done and dry, I added another thin coat of the modge podge on top of the paper.  This seals the paper onto the wood and gives your project a finished look.

Yay, after the second coat dries, you're done!  Easy-peasy, mountain-breezy.  Here is my Reid's name hanging in his new nursery on the cork wall.  

Find the post featuring his rustic traveler nursery here! And stay tuned for a post featuring our awesome globe pendant lights.

Love,

Kenz