• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Sengerson - Home DIY, Motherhood, and Family Vacations Blog
  • Tour My House
  • Home DIY
  • Cricut & Silhouette
  • Travel
  • Motherhood
  • Crafts
  • Meet Seng
  • Shop
  • FREE Resource Library
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Tour My House
  • Home DIY
  • Cricut & Silhouette
  • Travel
  • Motherhood
  • Crafts
  • Meet Seng
  • Shop
  • FREE Resource Library
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Crafts » DIY Nursery Letters

    DIY Nursery Letters

    Last Updated Date: August 8, 2021 | Published Date: August 5, 2011 by Seng Nickerson

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Email

    I'm sharing with you THREE easy ways to decorate wooden letters for a nursery! This is a great project using inexpensive wooden initials that you can paint, emboss and Modge Podge scrapbooking paper.

    I'm re-doing Ansley's nursery. Yep. I am. And Ryan (my hubby) said, "You should have found out [the gender]  - then you wouldn't have had to re-do stuff" with a grin on his face.

    Backstory: When I was pregnant with baby, I did not want to find out what the gender was. My reasoning (no offense to anyone else): there are too little suprises in life. Well, when I shared my thoughts with Ryan, he had a hissy fit. HE wanted to find out. I didn't. He was pretty...peeved. I told him this: "Since we're going on a trip to Maui (our "Babymoon"), how about we have the sonographer write it in an envelope - and we can open it when we go see the Haleakala sunrise?"  He just shrugged.

    At 18 weeks pregnant, we were on our way to the big ultrasound - the ultrasound to tell us whether baby was a boy or a girl. On our drive to the clinic, he would not even talk to me. We sat down at the registration desk, and even the secretary was like "man, he's not very social is he?" I said he's just mad we're not finding out.

    We got into the ultrasound room, and the tech asked if we wanted to know. I asked her to write it in an envelope. Ryan watched the ultrasound in silence (I mean what a party pooper) unless he had a question for the sonographer.

    We got home, and I confronted him. He made a big ordeal out of it - and I asked him why he wanted to know so bad. He said, "I just want to be prepared and do not like suprises. Plus, how are you going to decorate the baby room?" So, I said, "Fine. You can find out." I tore the envelope open, closed my eyes, and showed him. I then said, "Before I open my eyes, I want you to wipe off any reaction off of your face so that I can't guess what it is." And that's why Ryan decided to find out.

    Ryan was sort of right in a way. He knew that I would be re-doing the room after I found out whether baby was a boy or a girl.

    Ansley's nursery WAS decorated in neutral yellow, green, and ivory with lambs and ducks. Kim from work gave me the bedding set (THANK YOU), but now it will be handed it down to my cousin Lisa (who is also pregnant, yey!) to use for her baby.

    Monday, I went to Babies R Us, and got a pretty sweet deal on some GIRL nursery bedding.

    Anyway, now that I didn't have anything for the walls before that was specific to baby, I wanted to buy some nursery wall decor. I looked at USA Baby, and it was like $10+ per letter. I mean, what if I had named her "Stephanie" - that's a lot of moo-lah. So, then I went to Etsy. I love Etsy. I searched for "Wooden Nursery Letters". I found the same expensive pricing for pre-made wooden letters, but I will say they were more creative and cute. So, I decided to DIY my own nursery letters.

    Table of Contents

    • Ways to Decorate Wooden Nursery Letters
    • Instructions for Painting Wooden Nursery Letters
    • Instructions for Using Modge Podge Scrapbook Paper for Wooden Nursery Letters
    • Instructions for Embossing Wooden Letters from Hobby Lobby

    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

    Instructions for Painting Wooden Nursery Letters

    Supplies for Painting the Letters

    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.

    Wooden Hobby Lobby Letters buy here - $2.99*
    acrylic paint set with clear acrylic as well
    nursery ribbon
    wax paper or underlayment that it can dry on so it won't stick
    distress ink pad

    STEP 1 // SAND IF NEEDED

    If you using wooden letters, sand them down so they have a smooth finish. Then wipe away the dust completely. For chipboard, white lettering, or cardboard letters, you can obviously skip this step.

    STEP 2 // PAINT

    Layout the wax paper on your table. Use the acrylic paint to paint the edges of the letters first.

    Lay it down to dry on the wax paper. You'll have to add about 4 coats for a good cover  and wait a couple hours between each coat for it to dry.

    STEP 3 // PAINT CLEAR ACRYLIC

    Use clear acrylic to add a protection of layer to the paint!

    STEP 7 // ATTACH RIBBON TO WOODEN DECORATED LETTERS

    Cut the length of your ribbon to the length you want it. Use a staple gun to adhere it to the back of the letter. Make sure you secure it tight especially if it is going to be hanging over a crib!

    Instructions for Using Modge Podge Scrapbook Paper for Wooden Nursery Letters

    Supplies for Modge Podge Wooden Letters for Nursery

    Wooden Hobby Lobby Letters buy here - $2.99* 
    acrylic paint set

    Modge Podge
    nursery ribbon
    craft razors
    craft paint roller
    Sponge Brush
    wax paper
    distress ink pad
    nursery scrapbooking paper x 1 for each letter

    diy nursery letters featured by top US home decor blogger, Sengerson

    STEP 1 // SAND

    If you using wooden letters, sand them down so they have a smooth finish. Then wipe away the dust completely. For chipboard, white lettering, or cardboard letters - skip this step for now.

    STEP 2 // MODGE PODGE A THIN LAYER ON

    Dip your paint brush into the modge podge, and paint the front side of the letters.

    diy nursery letters featured by top US home decor blogger, Sengerson

    Put your scrapbooking paper wrong side up, and now stick the letter onto the scrapbook paper. Wait for the Modge Podge to dry on the letter.

    DIY nursery letters

    Ignore my cats in this photo, but do you see how I laid out the letters on top of the scrapbooking paper?

    DIY nursery letters

    STEP 3 // XACTO KNIFE

    After the letter/scrapbook paper dries - turn it face down...and cut along the edge of the letter.

    STEP 4 // INKED EDGES

    Now, take your stamp, then ink the edges of the letters by gently rubbing it towards the letter. Let it dry.

    STEP 5 // MODGE PODGE AGAIN

    Now Modge Podge the front for extra protection.

    STEP 6 // ATTACH RIBBON TO WOODEN DECORATED LETTERS

    Cut the length of your ribbon to the length you want it. Use a staple gun to adhere it to the back of the letter.

    diy nursery letters featured by top US home decor blogger, Sengerson

    Instructions for Embossing Wooden Letters from Hobby Lobby

    Of all the ways to decorate the nursery letters, this was my favorite.

    Supplies for Modge Podge Wooden Letters for Nursery

    Wooden Letters from Amazon- 2.99
    Acrylic Paint - 0.99
    Emobossing Heating Gun - 19.97
    Embossing Powder - 4.99
    Embossing Stamp Pad - 4.47
    Stamps- 4.97

    diy nursery letters featured by top US home decor blogger, Sengerson

    STEP 1 // SAND

    If you using wooden letters, sand them down so they have a smooth finish. Then wipe away the dust completely with a damp cloth.

    For chipboard, white lettering, or cardboard letters - skip this step because you won't need to do this.

    STEP 2 // PAINT BACKGROUND COLOR

    Before you start painting, layout the wax paper so that you won't have to move the letters afterwards.

    Start with the backside first, then paint the front side.

    You'll have to add about 4 coats for a good cover - wait a couple hours between each coat for it to dry.

    DIY nursery letters

    STEP 3 // STAMP

    Stamp the wooden letters using the embossing stamp pad with the design you chose. Then put the powder over the area you stamped - then blow/knock off the remaining embossing powder.

    STEP 4 // HEAT THE LETTERS UP

    Use the embossing heating gun and go over the wet stamped area that you just stamped on. Don't stay in one particular area too long as you go across each letter.

    I loved the way these nursery letters turned out. I know that this is a bad photo, but wanted to give you a close up of one of the letters and the bedding so you could see that it matched better than the Modge Podge.

    DIY nursery letters

    STEP 5 // ATTACH RIBBON TO EMBOSSED LETTERS

    Cut the length of your ribbon to the length you want it. Use a staple gun to adhere it to the back of the letter.

    diy nursery letters featured by top US home decor blogger, Sengerson

    That's it! You DIY nursery letters - and saved money. In my case, I saved about $60 even with two tries!

    Check out this Baby Nurse Checklist Guide for more ideas!

    DIY nursery letters

    DIY nursery letters

    PS: Loving these DIY nursery letters project and curious to see how the nursery turned out? Click here to see!

    « DIY Nursery Lampshade
    DIY Camera Strap »


    Disclosure

    Many of the links on this blog are affiliate links. Sengerson.com receives a small comission when certain items are purchased, but the price is the same for you. Sengerson.com is a participant in the Amazon LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.


    Subscribe for Access to Resource Library

    Subscribe down below for access to the FREE resource library that provides access to affordable home decor, printables, and family vacation hacks. Once you sign up, you'll get access to tons of absolutely free content. You'll also be signed up for my monthly newsletter where I share tips and tricks along the way!

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Nice to meet you!

    Seng is a life and style blogger for the modern mom. She is a mom of four that works outside of the home balancing the delicate balance of her career and being present for her family.
    Hi I'm Seng - a working mom, loving wife, lifestyle blogger, family photographer, and the ultimate purveyor of the "honey do list". More »

    Looking for Something

    Footer

    ↑ BACK TO TOP

    Meet Seng

    • About
    • Shop
    • DIY Web Stories
    • Home Tour
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

    Ideas by Room

    • Bathroom
    • Bedroom
    • Living Room
    • Dining & Kitchen
    • Outdoor Living
    • Paint Colors
    • Organization
    • Shopping Guide

    Motherhood

    • Family Vacations
    • Parenting
    • Baby Registry
    • Productivity Tips
    • Easy & Fast Recipes
    • Mom Fashion
    • Kids Fashion
    • Gift Guides

    ©2021 SENGERSON LLC, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • Email
    • Print
    • Save