E-A-T

One day while I was browsing online in Pottery Barn's clearance section, I came across this...

 

Super cute, right?

Those letters would look so good in my kitchen.

Well I didn't buy them. 

I knew I couldn't justify to my husband why I spent over $30 on some wood letters.

So I made my own.

I picked up some unfinished wood letters at our local craft store (Ben Franklin Crafts).

 

After I sanded them down to get rid of the rough patches, 

I slathered them with a coat of primer.

Then I painted on a layer of Benjamin Moore's Wedgewood Gray (my favorite color!).

I wanted the letters to be red with a hint of blue showing through.

This took some trial and error work.

I painted red right over the top and then tried to sand it to give it an aged look.

But the sander stripped it clear down to the original wood color and you couldn't even see the blue.

So I repainted it blue and then I read a great tip online...

If you want a paint color to show through after another color is applied, rub candle wax on the spots your want to show through.

So I found an old white candle in my cupboard and I rubbed it on the edges and sporadically on different parts of the letters.

Then I repainted the red over the top.

It worked so well that I didn't even have to use my sander. 

I was able to rub off some of the red with a paper towel!

I'm super happy with how they turned out. 

I like them even better than the Pottery Barn ones and they were about half the price (even on clearance)!

Linking up to:

Fingerprints on the Fridge Feature Yourself Friday

Funky Junk Interiors SNS #38

The Shabby Nest Frugal Friday

Chic on a Shoestring Flaunt it Friday

A Few of My Favorite Things - Favorite Things Friday