3-D Letters

Simple Ways to Make 3-D Letters

Can you tell me how to make a 3D letter to hang on my bedroom door. I can’t afford to spend much.

Thanks,

Loan

I can think of a couple of ways to make a 3D letter to hang on your door. The best method depends on what letter you want to make.

Basically there are two approaches to making 3-D letters if you don’t want to get involved with thick wood and a jigsaw!

1. Cut out multiples of the letter from a thick material that is easy to cut and then glue them on top of one another.

Chipboard (the nice clean cardboard used to mat pictures - buy it in any art store or framing shop) or sheets of craft foam would work (be sure to buy the thicker type - most stores carry two thicknesses). Glue the duplicates atop one another.

For different effects, you could cut each piece progressively smaller (or larger) for a pyramid effect or you could offset each piece to one side to increase the 3-D appearance and expose the edges more.

If you don't like the stacked look on the sides, glue a strip of decorative paper around the edges. I would use chipboard for the front and back; and craft foam in the middle.

2. If the letter you want to make is very rectangular, like a capital "L", you could actually make a box out of chipboard. Cut out two capital L's.

Measure the perimeter of the L. Cut a strip of chipboard in that length. Score it carefully with a craft knife where it needs to fold. Fold it into shape. Let's call this the box.

Put several strips of masking tape on the inside top edge of the box. Lay it over the top L and press the tape strips to secure.

On the open edge of the box, put a strip of masking tape all along one side of the L's upright. Secure that edge of the box to the back L.

I can't think of a good way to tape the remaining edge from the inside, so I would run a thin line of PVA glue (like Elmer's Glue-All) around the remaining edge. Close the box and set aside to dry.

If you decide that this is a bigger project than you bargained for (lol), you can buy beautiful ready-made 3-D wooden or vinyl letters from Craft Cuts. Browse around their site. They have tons of great wall art ideas.