DIY: Party Letters

It doesn’t matter what kind of celebration you’re hosting, there is one thing that is a must: fabulous decor! These party letters will jazz up your entertaining space and will take your decor game to the next level… and guess what, they only cost me $34 to make! With Mother’s Day coming up we thought the occasion was right to make “MOM” letters, but you can create any word your heart desires. These letters I made are 12″ x 12″, but I could have made them bigger or smaller. Tip: You can also do this project with florals and not just artificial greenery.

Here’s what you’ll need: Foam*, artificial greenery, a ruler, a marker, scissors or X-Acto knife, a hot glue gun (not shown) and potentially a glue stick and wire cutters.

*I bought my foam at Home Depot. I went in with the intention to buy thick foam squares, however,  I was told the store I was at didn’t carry that. I ended up buying a pack of six 3/4″ foam sheets for only $13. This was a little thinner than I was hoping, and the thicker foam was more expensive, so I just doubled up the foam to make my letters thicker and glued them together with a glue stick.

I bought my greenery from Dollarama – it was cheap and it looked great for a temporary project. All my greenery cost me $21 (I did buy too much though). Be sure to buy a variety of leaf shades and shapes to give some depth and texture to the look.

Project completion time:  4 hours. 

Step 1: Mark it out. Take your ruler and marker and draw a square perimeter. You will use this as a guide to keep all your letters the same size – my letters are 12″ x 12″. Now use your ruler to draw out your letters – you will cut along these lines next. My letters are about 2.5″ thick which made consistency easy.

Step 2: Cut it out. I thought I could use scissors to cut through the foam since it was only 3/4″ thick, but I found an X-Acto knife was easier to use and made a cleaner cut. Remember: I doubled up my on my foam so I had to do step 1 and 2 twice for each letter.

Step 3: Prep your greenery. I initially thought I could cut the wires down and stick the greenery into the foam, however, I quickly learned that the coverage isn’t as full as it would be if I snipped the leaves off the vine and glued them on individually. This is a judgement call on your part, but whichever method you choose, be sure to get your greenery ready for step 4.

Step 4: Cover your foam. I started by gluing leaves on the sides of the letters using my hot glue gun. I then wrapped the leaves around the edges to cover the foam so no white peeped through. After the sides are fully covered, fill in the surface of your letters, scattering the various leaves and shades throughout to cover any gaps.

That’s it! Simple, easy and cheap. I am so happy with how this project turned out – it will really add that ‘wow factor’ to our Mother’s Day high-tea!

If you’re looking for Mother’s Day gift ideas, check out this green wreath we made, or this artificial terrarium. These could also be great Mother’s Day projects you and mom could work on together!

Until my next post, Jessica ❤