Homemade crafts using cardboard letters add a personal touch to your decor. They are so versatile you can use them for a number of home and holiday decorating projects, or use them for crafts to engage children. Purchase cardboard letters at craft or office supply stores or make them yourself out of scraps, and with just a few supplies you're ready to get creative.
Paint Them
Non-toxic poster or tempera paints are idea for children to use because they are washable and safe. For older kids and adults, acrylic craft paints will give even, opaque coverage. Alternately, if you have leftover house paints, you can use those to make your letters match your wall color or trim. After a base coat of paint, decorate with hand-drawn or rubber-stamped patterns and images. Kids may wish to further decorate them with sequins, feathers, stickers, rick-rack or other craft supplies. Glue an initial to the front door, cabinet or spell out someone's name on a bedroom door.
Cover Them
Cover up your letters and no one will even know they are made of cardboard. Fabric covers can really make letters pop for holiday wall decor, ornaments or if you are gluing them to the front of furnishings or pillows as embellishments. Trace around the letter on the back of the fabric, and cut the fabric giving it enough leeway to fold over the edges. A few snips and tucks may be required around edges to ensure a smooth fit before gluing the fabric on. Alternatively, you can use leftover shelf paper, wall paper samples or wrapping paper to cover your alphabet letters.
Make Alphabet People
If you have preschoolers in the house who are learning the alphabet, take advantage of cardboard letter crafts as a learning tool. Let children convert them into alphabet people. Color them with crayons or markers. Give them little paper eyes and smiles cut out of construction paper. Cut out and glue on accessories as well, such as a hat, purse or mustache that you make out of scrap papers. Glue magnets to the back of the alphabet people to use them on a magnetic message board, the side of a filing cabinet or the front of the fridge. Children can engage in imaginative play with their letter people while becoming familiar with the names and sounds of the letters.
Stencil With Them
Instead of using your cardboard letters as the finished product, use them as craft supplies. Cardboard letters are easily and inexpensively made, so use them as stencils for a decorative paint job. For example, if painting a child's toy box, paint it a base color first. Make tape loops with the sticky side out and tape cardboard letters all over the box, or spell out the child's name across the front. A coat of spray paint in a contrasting color will result in a bold alphabet-theme when the cardboard letters are removed. Apply the same stencil painting technique to the wall, the front of a wood scrapbook cover, a table top or use fabric paints to decorate table cloths and window treatments.
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