Foamboard Lollipop Letters

Create a chic, vintage look for bedroom dressing tables and shelves using old, eclectic scraps of wallpaper or pages from books! This tutorial will guide you through creating the foam board letters and mounting them on wooden sticks of varying sizes (available from local craft shops).

YOU WILL NEED

Letter template

Plain or graph paper

Ruler

Pencil

Tracing paper

Masking tape

Craft knife

Cutting mat

Foamboard measuring approximately 8 ¼ x 10 ¼ in. (21 x 26 cm) per letter

Washi tape

Scissors

Craft glue

Patterned paper

Thin wooden sticks 1/8 – ¼ in. (3–5 mm) thick and 8–12 in. (20–30 cm) long per letter

Block of wood measuring approximately 4 ½ x 1 ½ x 1 in. (11 x 4 x 3 cm)

Pages from old books

Drill

Awl

1. Choose your letter from the templates on page 136 and enlarge it to the right size, either by using a photocopier or scaling the letter up on graph paper (see page 9). I made mine approximately 8 in. (20 cm) in height. Trace out the letter and transfer it onto a piece of foamboard (see page 10). Protecting your work surface with a cutting mat, cut out the shape using a craft knife and a ruler for any straight edges.

 
2. Line the outside edges of the letter with strips of washi tape. When lining a curved edge, use scissors to make small snips into the overlapping tape—every . in. (5 mm), or so—to enable you to fit the tape neatly around the curve.

 
3. Spread glue all over the front of the letter shape and place a piece of patterned paper, right side up, over the top. Smooth out and press down all over. Allow the glue to dry before using a craft knife to cut off any overlapping paper. You’ll find this easier to do if you place your letter face down on your cutting mat. Repeat on the other side of the letter, using a different paper if you like, so that both sides are covered.

4. Cut a length of stick. Cut a strip of washi tape to the
same length and lay it down on your work surface,
sticky side up. Place the stick on the tape and wrap the
tape around the stick neatly, to cover it.

 
5. To cover the block of wood, center it on a page taken from an old book. Draw around the base. Remove the block and draw a border around your drawn outline. It needs to be the same depth as the sides of the block. Use a pencil and a ruler to mark cutting guides as shown. Cut along these guides to make four flaps.

 
6. Spread glue all over the wrong side of the paper and place the block back in position. Wrap the two short sides of the block first, sticking the paper flaps to the long sides of the block. Then wrap the two long sides.

 
7. Drill a hole in the center of the block of wood, that is equal to the width of the stick. Use an awl to make a hole the same size in the foamboard at the base of the letter.

 
8. Push the stick into the wooden base and then push the letter onto the opposite end of the stick.

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