DIY: Photo Letters

     This past Mother's Day, I was so lost thinking about what to get my mom. I was thinking of what I could buy her, but she's so picky. I decided to go with something homemade, since she is always into that sort of stuff. I had seen some tutorials online for Photo Letters, so I decided I would give it a try. My mom loved them, so I thought I would share my process.

     This is my first tutorial, so bear with me!

What You Need:

Wooden letters spelling out your word(s) of choice 

Photos printed off of your computer (I used black & white but color is fine) 

Scrapbook Paper in patterns/colors of your choice

Exacto knife

Adhesive Spray

Trash Bags (or something else to cover your work surface)

Pencil

Instructions:

Step one:

Line your work surface with trash bags or  paper bags, because the adhesive spray tends to overspray.

Step two:

Select the scrapbook paper that you want to use, and place it face down on the work surface. 

Step three:

Place the letters face down on top of the scrapbook paper, and trace around the letters with a pencil.

Step four:

I only used the pencil trace as a guide in case the letter moved, so I just cut around the letters with an Exacto knife.

Step five:

Once the scrapbook papers have been cut to size, set them off to the side, and set up the wooden letters on your work surface. 

Since the adhesive over sprays, you may want to only set up one letter at a time. 

Take the adhesive spray and spray onto the wooden letter from the noted distance. 

It has a really fast drying time, so be ready right away to attach the  paper on top of the letter. Although it is tacky, you should be able to move it slightly if it is not lined up. Press it down hard to make sure there are no bubbles.

Step six:

Continue the same process with all other letters, then set them aside to dry (I let them sit overnight).

Step seven:

Take your printed out pictures and cut them all out. 

Then, tentatively place them on the letters where you want them. 

Once you have done that, trace around the edges of the photos with a pencil. 

Then, pick up the photo, and write a corresponding number on the spot on the letter as well as on the back of the photo.

Step eight:

This part can be difficult, so be patient and do this one photo at a time.

Place the photo into its corresponding spot on the letter. Then, while holding the photo, flip the letter over and place it onto the table. Hold the letter in place, and cut around the protruding edges of the photo with the Exacto knife.

Repeat this process with each photo (only the photos for one letter at a time).

Step nine:

For each letter, take one cut photo at a time, flip it over, lightly spray on the adhesive, and place it onto its corresponding spot on the letter. Once you have done this with all of the photos, you can then erase the rest of the pencil marks.

Let these dry, and then you're done!

Thanks for reading!

-Grace