Holiday Bash Day 7 | DIY Letter Art

By On November 10, 2011 · 25 Comments

Welcome to Day 7 of our Holiday Bash!

Today, I have little DIY project for you that will be PERFECT for holiday gift giving (and won’t break your budget either!)

I’m sure you’ve seen letter photo art either around the web or in stores. Sometimes the letters are obvious (from signs or walls) and sometimes they are a bit more obscure ( a part of a metal railing or bent pipe that resembles a letter). Sometimes they are in color, sometimes they are in black and white. Regardless of which type you prefer, one thing that makes them so interesting is their mismatched nature.

Everytime I see them I think, I NEED to try to make one of those, but then the thought of hunting down ALL the letters seems so daunting, so it sits in my mental “to do” list and I start on some other project. But then I stumbled upon a little “cheat”.

These projects are actually very quick and easy to put together when you discover Leo….. Photographer Leo Reynolds has put together a massive collection of letters and numbers on Flickr, and is also extremely generous by allowing you to use his work for personal use projects! THANK YOU LEO!

Here are two I put together using Leo’s collection:

Here are the “in a nutshell” directions on creating this project:

  1. go through Leo’s collection of letters/numbers and save the one’s you’d like to use. (this will potentially be the longest part of the process)
  2. open up a new document in Photoshop (you could also create this in other programs), for mine I used a 8.5×11 canvas, but you could use whatever you prefer.
  3. pull in your letters and resize to fit how you’d like on your canvas (you might need to trim some of the letters)
  4. flatten your image and save!
  5. you can then print at home or order prints online
  6. throw that work of art in a frame
  7. look at your masterpiece in awe

There are so many ways to get creative with these tiles, don’t be limited by my example. What about:

  • alphabet poster
  • child’s name
  • numbers
  • quote
  • home sweet home
  • frame single letters to spell out a word rather than the word all together in one frame
  • you get the idea, right?!

Amy Gregson also has a more in-depth tutorial here.

I hope you’ll give it a shot!

Today I have 3 more prizes up for grabs:

PRIZE 1 | A scrapbook kit from My Scrapbook Nook (kit club)

PRIZE 2 | A $17 Gift Card to The Hidden Heart (digital designs)

PRIZE 3 | A $25 Gift Card to the ETSY shop of YOUR choice!

[TO ENTER ]

Leave a comment & LINK US to a great DIY Holiday Gift tutorial!

Deadline: Sunday, November 13th at NOON CST!

NOTE: if your comment doesn’t show up right away, don’t fret, my spam filter is CRAYZAY, but I check them throughout the day & approve those that get stuck!

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25 Responses to Holiday Bash Day 7 | DIY Letter Art

  1. Elisa says:
    November 10, 2011 at 7:53 am

    I’ve been looking at pinterest to think of things for gifts for my family & came across this…Lots of the women in my family are purse people, (not me), but this could be fun to try for them for a gift:

    http://www.lilmagoolie.com/2011/07/29/diy-fyi-tank-top-totes/

  2. Charmaine says:
    November 10, 2011 at 10:00 am

    awesome idea, love the name idea!
    this is one of my faves for diy:
    http://www.katehadfielddesigns.com/blog/?p=898
    I make “Reindeer Food” for my kids and nieces every year!

  3. Rachel R says:
    November 10, 2011 at 1:05 pm

    Here is a great site with handmade gift ideas

    http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/2006/10/handmade-holiday-gift-guide-2011.html

  4. Amanda says:
    November 10, 2011 at 2:32 pm

    I love the idea of giving a nice Christmas treat that the person can make when they want:

    http://www.bakerella.com/mix-things-up/

  5. Ferdy says:
    November 10, 2011 at 3:14 pm

    I have this on my to do list: a phone/iPad cover, made with jeans:

    http://dollarstorecrafts.com/2011/05/make-a-blue-jean-tablet-computer-sleeve/

    thanks for this giveaway!!

  6. kimberlee says:
    November 10, 2011 at 5:07 pm

    I thought this was kind of cool/different for those wine lovers out there…

    http://www.lilblueboo.com/2011/06/wine-barrel-lazy-susan-a-tutorial.html

  7. sara says:
    November 10, 2011 at 9:39 pm

    this is cool, I want to make them.

    http://www.320sycamoreblog.com/2011/09/scrabble-gallery-wall-art.html

  8. Eirka says:
    November 11, 2011 at 12:10 pm

    I thought this was really cool for the camera lover in your life!!!

    http://www.livelaugheat.com/2011/02/02/diy-camera-purse-bag/

  9. LindaC says:
    November 11, 2011 at 1:58 pm

    Simple Stories has a lot of great ideas for the holidays, but I love the 25 Days of Christmas Advent Calendar by Kim Holmes

    http://simplestories.typepad.com/simple_stories/

  10. Kanani says:
    November 12, 2011 at 1:12 am

    Here’s a great diy gift for teens…polaroid magnet frames found here:

    http://www.onepearlbutton.com/2010/12/tutorial-magnetic-polaroid-frames-with.html

  11. Michelle Huegel says:
    November 12, 2011 at 8:01 am

    OMG you really have the best sponsors, and ideas!! Love that letter photo idea, perfect for an artsy kids room!

  12. ckcpurple says:
    November 12, 2011 at 10:43 am

    I just love these letter art pieces when I see them. Thanks for linking us to Leo, what a great resource! (Thanks to Leo too!!!)

    I love this project idea which I just stumbled upon recently through a pinterest post. It’s a Pocket Advent Calendar:

    http://mylittlemochi.typepad.com/my_little_mochi/2008/11/pocket-advent-calendar.html#more

  13. Amy Melniczenko says:
    November 12, 2011 at 11:09 am

    I’m going to alter this for Christmas … what a cool wreath!

    http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/10/how-to-make-a-tulle-wreath-halloween-edition/

  14. Michelle Huegel says:
    November 12, 2011 at 12:02 pm

    oops, i commented earlier and forgot to include my link, sorry!! I got this last weekend, plan to use it for little stocking stuffers for my parents/grandparents/sisters/in-laws with pictures of my three little boys!
    http://www.the-lilypad.com/store/product.php?productid=6442&cat=0&page=1

  15. Jena says:
    November 12, 2011 at 7:56 pm

    These shrink plastic name necklaces will be great for my nieces:
    http://www.favecrafts.com/Friendly-Plastic/Shrink-Plastic-Name-Necklace/ct/1

  16. Cynthia says:
    November 12, 2011 at 10:05 pm

    I thought this T-shirt tutorial was pretty cool!
    http://theartgirljackie-tutorials.blogspot.com/2011/10/tie-dye-t-shirts-with-sharpie-markers.html

  17. Anne says:
    November 12, 2011 at 11:34 pm

    Cookies in a jar is a great DIY gift. I just got one from my SIL - so easy to make a batch of fresh cookies!
    http://oldfashionedsodafountain.blogspot.com/2010/12/cookies-in-jar.html

  18. Teresa says:
    November 13, 2011 at 7:56 am

    I like this idea for making an ornament from buttons (especially for using my stash of random ones!).

    http://leslieashe.blogspot.com/2008/12/label-tulip-news-merry-ornament-random.html?m=1

  19. Brynn Marie says:
    November 13, 2011 at 10:38 am

    Love the letter art <3 Totally gonna try and tackle that this week

    I am making these for all my Mommy friends this year:
    http://pinterest.com/pin/287245282452720796/

    for the "eggs" I used crystal beads in their children's birthstones <3

  20. Brandi says:
    November 14, 2011 at 10:55 am

    I made one this weekend
    http://pinterest.com/pin/29766047506746391/