Altered Letter Craft for All Ages

The other day I had a couple of extra kids spending the day with us. In those situations I like to have a fun craft planned that they can bring home. Since the kids in my house that day ranged from 2yrs. - 12yrs., I came up with a craft that they all could do. :)

Supplies:
paper or wooden letter (we used a large chipboard letter found at Hobby Lobby)
decorative paper
paint
Mod Podge
Adhesive
Optional: scrapbooking decorations

First we painted around the edges of our letters with craft paint. We only had to do the edges because the front of the letter is covered with paper.

Next I ran our papers through my Xyron 900 Creative Station. Basically it makes the whole sheet of paper one big sticker. When crafting with kids, this is one of the easiest (and cleanest) way to add adhesive to a large surface area. If you don't own a Xyron, you can use a thin layer of Mod Podge on the letter and place the paper over the letter, or use spray adhesive. The goal is to have continuous adhesive coverage so none of the paper lifts off the letter.

Then I cut around the letter with an Exacto-knife. Make sure that you are cutting on a glass mat. I use a piece of glass from an old picture frame. The key with cutting with an Exacto-knife is to have a sharp blade and to move the paper along with the knife. After the letter is cut, you can seal the letter with a thin coat of Mod Podge. Then after the Mod Podge is dry, add any embellishments you want.

Here are the older kids' finished letters. You can add them onto a canvas, corkboard, door etc.

Since I knew my 2yr. old and 3yr. old were going to want to join in the fun, I purchased smaller wooden letters for them to decorate. I pulled out our paint markers and they had fun decorating their own letters.

I even made my own altered letter craft along with the kids! My creation is posted today on the Designer Digitals' Blog---check it out!

Related Article:
How to Create an Altered Composition Book