I’ve had this post drafted since May but today I can finally share it with the world!
The reason it’s been under wraps is because I had planned to make 3D letters as housewarming presents for my housemates but obviously I didn’t want to spoil the surprise so I’ve kept it hush hush. Yesterday was the first day that all housemates were together in our new house (and also Danielle‘s birthday – Happy Birthday!) so I was able to finally give them!
I made 5 letters; b for Bobbins, h for Helen, a for Amy, d for Danielle and n for Natasha(because I like ns better than ts)
They are all lowercase Helvetica(controversial?) letters made from cardboard, masking tape, paper mache and wallpaper. It took me 3 days to make all 5 and I burnt my finger with my glue gun quite badly so I don’t have a fingerprint on that finger atm haha But I like to think it was worth it…?
Here’s a few pictures I took to document the process…
I printed out letters in the size I wanted them and then drew round the templates onto corrugated cardboard. I then cut out two of each letter…
To make the letter 3D I placed some card in between the two corrugated card cut outs…
… and then covered them in masking tape to make it more of a solid shape.
Next up was getting messy with the paper mache mix – 1 cup of flour, 1 tablespoon of salt and water. Add some newspaper strips and it was a sloppy mess!
After they were all dried and a lot more solid I set about covering them in wallpaper which I got samples of from B&Q haha…
I burnt my finger when making Amy’s a! 
And finally the finished letters:
It was good fun and these are something that you can’t buy anywhere else (mainly because they aren’t perfect – not consistent widths and some lean to different sides haha) so they’re all one of a kind!
The guys seem happy with their letters and now I have another n to add to my collection…
What do you think – Impressed? Inspired to have a go at making your own?
Love the blue lamp. . . Where can I get one ?
Loved it, thank you!
Oh, go one then, I’ll send you a poster for your new house! email me your address…
Chris
Absolutely brilliant – been trying to find how to do this to make something special for my wife’s birthday – thanks
Gareth
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pretty darn impressed. i’ve NEVER invested so much energy in a flatmate’s gift – except one time i did a drawing. but that was it
Thanks so much for the tutorial. I thought you might like to know that I used this idea to hand-build letters for an image for a book cover I designed (http://jennifernicholewells.com/2013/05/16/the-rebirth/). Without you I wouldn’t have thought to make the letters myself and out of cardboard at that.