I love the look of aged zinc letters. Okay, so it’s not a new idea in decorating by any stretch. Do a google image search for zinc letters and you’ll find a plethora of images.
{Anthropologie’s 8″ Zinc Letters, $18 each}
I wanted to add a little hit of style to an awkward corner of our kitchen and I thought that the word “eat” would fit there nicely. Of course this screamed DIY project to me too!
At first I was thinking perhaps hubby could cut me some metal letters – he has worked in sheet metal for 19 years! But we decided for this one-off project that ready made wood letters would suffice. Unfortunately Michael’s didn’t have quite the size I wanted but again, we made do.
Here are the letters. They are mdf and came pre-primed in white. Step One was to paint them. I already started to paint them in Behr flat paint colour-matched to PPG’s Knight’s Armor (#518-6) before I took the first pic. One would think that after so many DIY projects for the blog, that I’d remember to take sequential well-lit pictures for you. But I only remembered to snap each pic after I’d started the next step!
Step Two was to simply rub on some Rub ‘n Buff in Pewter…and voila! Zinc-looking letters!
Two Steps Easy-Peasy! And at only $4.29 each, although smaller, they are still inexpensive compared to the Anthro version!!
P.S. We redid this project again with larger letters (after these ones got wrecked at a craft session). See that project here.
Linking up:
http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/2011/02/weekend-wrap-up-party-and-accessories.html
http://www.fingerprintsonthefridge.com/2011/02/feature-yourself-friday_17.html
http://www.yesterdayontuesday.com/2011/02/crafty-soiree-25.html
These look great Shannon! They turned out really well and look perfect in the kitchen.
Kim:)
Thanks, Kim. The rub ‘n buff created the metal look perfectly! I love them! S.
I absolutely ADORE this project!
Thank you SO much for linking it up…can’t wait to try it out!
Thanks, Layla. Come back and show us when you do!
Wow – these look JUST like Anthro’s! Awesome job
Thank you Dana!
Thanks for using AMACO’s Rub ‘n Buff. I will post this to our Facebook page for our readers and direct them to your site.
Hi Becky. Thank you! And thank you for taking the time to comment too. S.
Wonderful idea! I always see those letters at Michael’s and wonder what to do with them. Ohhh the ideas are running away with me now. Not just for kid’s names.
I know, right!? I always just saw kids names before too! Thank you for commenting, Cherie. We’re so glad you stopped by! S.
These are great! Very creative way to turn those letters up a notch and make them a bit more modern. Nice job
Such a great knock-off! I love them! (And such a great price!)
OK, I have a big “B” that I’ve been wanting to paint FOREVER to get this look…and I OWN Rub-n-Buff! Excited to finally do something with it now!
Awesome! We would love to see it when you’re finished! S.
Hi Shannon,
I see that you are in Canada, where do you buy sheet metal that big to make the magnetic chalkboard? I love your blog
Hi Lorraine, we’re so glad you found us! Dean’s day job is working in sheet metal, so we ordered ours through his work. BUT, you should be able to find what you are looking for at Metal Supermarkets. You can visit their website to see if there’s one near you: http://www.metalsupermarkets.com/.
So where are these less expensive wooden letters from? I could use them for my wedding!
Hi Natasha,
Oooh, they’d look great for your wedding! Some I found at Dollarama, some at Dollar Giant and some were Walmart.
BTW, if you’re looking for good wedding stuff, check out the etsy shop funkyshique…such pretty stuff!
S.
Neat! Planned to do something with letters for the Baby’s room too.
Fun! That would be nice!
love this idea!!!
personalizes it so nicely.