Hi! I’m having each of my students paint and decorate a wooden letter that will be hung at their classroom station. I imagine priming the letters before painting is the best way to go. Do you recommend any particular primer? I’m kind of clueless. Thank you so much in advance!
How to Paint Wood Letters
We’re happy to help answer that question, so our good friend Amy made a little instructional video and step-by-step article.
If you order Unpainted Wood Letters, then you can leave them as the natural baltic birch wood they are (which is stunning by the way), paint or stain them at home.
We also offer Stained Wood Letters or Painted Wood Letters if you don’t feel like getting your hands a little dirty. But many customers love buying our Unpainted Wood Letters so they are able to craft at home or have a custom paint color they want to match.
Depending on your project needs or personal preference, you can either paint wood letters with a brush or spray paint. We’ll show you both options.
Make sure to follow up this article with How to Hang Wall Letters with Hanging Strips for some pro tips.
Watch the Video:
Materials
Prime the Edges of the Letter
Complete the Edge Color
Sand the Face of the Letter
Paint the Face of the Letter
Painted Wood Letter
How to Spray Paint Wood Letters
Prep the Edges of the Letter
Remove Paint Drips
Spray Paint Wood Letters
Painted Wood Letter
Considers When Choosing the Best Alphabet Letters
Where to Buy
Hobby Lobby usually has a sale every other week on this for half off. Hobby Lobby has wooden letters, white painted letters (these are the ones I used), whimsical wooden letters, and chipboard letters. You can use any of these. Wal-Mart also carries these letters for 0.97 each, but they are only 3 inches tall and usually don’t carry all the letters you need. Wal-Mart carries the letters that have “dots” on the end of the edge of each letter if you like that style. Jo-Ann fabrics also have them.
Wood or Cardboard
If you are deciding on wood or cardboard, I would consider where you plan on placing the letters. If it’s on a wall, I would consider using wood. If it’s decorated on a shelf, I would recommend cardboard because it can be stood up separately instead of leaned up against a wall.
White or Wood Color
If you are planning on painting it a darker color, generally the wood grain is less expensive than it’s white primed counterpart. However, if you are planning on using a light stain, I would recommend getting the white pre-primed letters.
Serif or San Serif Letters
Serif is the “tail” of the letter where as san means “without”, so san serif letters are designed straight without the tail. Think about the type of design you want for your space, and choose from the options below where I’ve curated both serif and san serif wood letters.
Ways to Decorate Wooden Nursery Letters
There are three ways to make and decorate homemade nursery letters:
- Straight up painting them
- Modge Podge scrapbooking paper to the letters
- Use an embossing heating gun for stamped decor on the letters
Below, I share with you instructions as well as my favorite ways to decorate these awesome craft letters and why.
Painting Alphabet Letters
Painting wood letters can be tricky. If you are painting these alphabet letters, I highly recommend getting the wood letters. The cardboard wood letters may be easier to paint, but may end up with a color that is lighter than intended once it dries.
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