Project: Name on the Wall

Had some free time to relax in the garage and knocked out a fun little project. Ya know those wood letters you get at the hobby store? They're a perennial favorite in our house. We've bought sets for each kiddo at different point and invariably they get painted some color to match the decor and hung on a wall. But, it doesn't take long to exhaust all the creative ways to display them. Horizontal, vertical, random, you get it.

This project actually found some new ground for us. I mounted them to a backboard of 1/4" MDF covered with fabric. This can create a whole lot of new possibilities for size, shape, color, pattern, etc.!

Some notes on the construction.

Letters can be hard to center vertically on a board. What you need is the overall width of the name, so...

• Lay out the letters along a yard stick. Pick a set space for the distance from letter to letter. 
• Use the yard stick markings to get the total length. 
• On your backboard, draw a 'baseline' for the bottoms of the letters and mark the center point
• Start placing the letters 1/2 the length of the name to the right of center

Attaching the letters with short wood screws is best, but knowing where to drill the holes from the back can be tough. Here is the solution:

• With the letters laying where you want them on the backboard, trace them with a pencil
• Remove the letters and drill small holes from the front so that you can easily locate them in the center of the letter.
• 2 holes is plenty for any letter; you want more than one so the letters don't 'swivel.'
• Place the letters back on the backboard (small clamps are a good idea here if possible) and pre-drill the letters through the holes in the backboard from the back - be careful of how deep you drill!

Finishing the backboard can be done in a number of ways. We used fabric glued down with Mod Podge, but contact paper, paint, wallpaper, scrapbook pages, photos ... just about anything flat can work! Obviously, you'll do this step with the letters off and reattach them afterwards. Here is the finished product in place!

The new sign installed