Doodled Wooden ‘Love ‘Letters’ Tutorial

Originally posted 8 February 2019

Dear lovelies,

Well, after discovering a love for doodling inspired by wintry images, which I wrote about in last week’s post, I haven’t been able to stop! And as always with these spurts of inspiration, the ideas are coming thick and fast and bringing together a few years worth of thoughts and ‘light bulb’ moments throughout my crafting journey. So I am writing this, ever hopeful that this might be the start of something good for me and my small business.

It is coming up to a day where the world celebrates love. I’m not a fan of that particular day due to the commercial nature of it and all the tat that is created and wasted as a result. And I also can’t forget the feeling as a teenager when friends received cards from secret admirers and I did not. However, I do not judge anyone who wants to celebrate love on that day for any day that love is celebrated is a good day. I would argue though that declarations of love that are spontaneous and not pushed by a commercial system, can hold more meaning.

This is my roundabout way of saying that these ‘love letters’ could be made for any day of the year because love isn’t just for Valentine’s Day!

Let’s get to it shall we? These painted letters are very straightforward to make and the doodling is so much fun. ‘Mistakes’ or ‘marks that you make and aren’t fond of’, can be turned into other shapes and forms, which I find liberating! You can use any colours you like of both the foundation paint and the paint pen doodles on top. You could make these as initials, or you could spell out any word. You could pop them on a shelf, hang them on a wall or door and you could drill holes in them and string them up as bunting. So many possibilities!

Materials/Supplies:

Large Upper Case Wooden Letters (approx 11 (height) x 10 cm) – I bought mine here where they come in a pack of 52.

Spray paint (such as this in Gold Matt M3010) or paints (such as these) for the foundation layer.

Paint pens for the doodles (I use these).

Newspaper.

Paper and pen/pencil.

Varnish such as this spray paint version or you could use Mod Podge gloss (optional).

Method:

Firstly, protect the surface you are working on with newspaper.

If you are spray painting the letters, take the letters outside and protect your eyes, nose and mouth with a mask.

Paint the first layer and any additional layers on to the letters, leaving them to dry between coats. I tested out both methods and I needed 3 layers of spray paint and 2 of the poster paint.

Whilst the final paint layer is drying, practice doodling with a pencil or pen on a piece of paper to experiment with the kind of design you like or of course you can completely free style it!

Once dry, paint on desired patterns, shapes and designs using the paint pen. Follow the paint pen manufacturer’s instructions on how to use them.

My tips are: Start at the top and make your way to the bottom of each letter; do not press hard as the paint will flow without needing to do this; be careful not to smudge marks that have already been made; make larger marks/shapes and then fill with smaller ones; make deliberate marks with an idea of what shape you are making each time; go over lines if they do not look as filled with paint as you like and lastly relax and enjoy!

Once the doodles are dry and if you would like a gloss finish, paint on a layer of varnish. Otherwise, you are done and free to display your letters as you wish!