okay, i’ll say it: this was a really hard “theme” for me.
don’t get me wrong, i {heart} dollar stores as much as the next penny-pinching suburban mom…but, you know—not so much for the decorative items.
and then when it’s a challenge and i’m on a time constraint and i HAVE to come up with something?
ugh.
so i give props where they’re due: thanks to the googie-grandmomma. i made asked her nicely to come with me as a sounding board. i start to get a little crazy under the pressure (“wait, this box of off-brand ramen soup—i think i could spray paint the noodles and they’d be awesome”) i need her calming influence and suggestions. (this truly may be the only time my mother has ever been called a ‘calming influence’. mark it in your calendar ma peeps)
so here’s the supply list:
not pictured:
large sheet of black foam board (from the $1 store)
hot glue gun
mod podge
x-acto knife
straight pins
(ignore the sharpie…i didn’t use it)
{STEP 1}
cut open your gift bags and use the paper from the inside of the frame to cut the right size to line your frame:
check how it looks:
(these gift bags had shiny dots only on one side. so i got the large frame from one gift bag and the two smaller frames from the other gift bag)
{STEP 2}
take your ribbon and cut 4 pieces for each frame to make an inner border. attach these with double stick tape.
boom! frames done! on to the letters.
a note about the letters: this isn’t a difficult process, but you have to really become one with your crafting self. in other words, you’re gonna get messy :o)
{STEP 3}
pick a font that you love for your letters. (i used “euphorigenic” from dafont)
print out your letters and then cut them out. (i would love to tell you what size font i used to make the letters…but i ran out of printer ink, so i actually just free-handed them—copying them off the computer screen.)
once you’re happy with the size of your letters, move on to…
{STEP 4}
trace around your cut-out onto the black foam board…
and cut (i found a sawing motion with the exacto knife gives you a cleaner cut than slicing it—just a little tip from me to you)
yay! letters! now do it again.
ha!
no really, i cut each letter out twice and then glued them together. a letter sandwich if you will. (sounds like something from sesame street, no?)
now comes the super fun part, also known as…
{STEP 5}
basically you’re going to slop your mod podge around the edges of the letter and attach the ribbon. i coated the tops of the letters at the same time to make them a little shiny and protect the paper too.
pictures will help :o)
here’s my letter sandwich with one coat of mod podge on top:
slop loads of mod podge around the edge: 
and put your ribbon in there, smoooooothing it as you go. this is where you need the straight pins—stick them in sporadically to help keep the ribbon tight and prevent you from pulling it as you work your way around the letter.
you are left with some overhang of ribbon (width-wise), but that’s okay. just keep the ribbon level along the top side of the letter. 
and let those bad boys dry dry dry before moving on to…
{STEP 6}
once the letters are all dry, we have to fill in the gaps. flip them over and use little scraps of your foam board to bulk up the letters…
hot glue the scraps to the letters, and then letters on TOP of your glass.
{STEP 7}
i made some little (cheesy!) flowers from scraps of the gift bag. i hot glued more ribbon to the back of the frames and (shhh…don’t tell googiedaddy) i hot glued the flower and ribbon right to the wall (the frames are actually hanging on nails so the the ribbon is just decorative)
and there you have it!
1 sheet black foam board $1
3 picture frames $3
2 rolls black ribbon $2
2 polka dot gift bags $2
--------------------------------
total --- $8 (plus misc. supplies you should have. and you call yourself a crafter. pshaw.)
cheap, pretty, personalized wall art for your daughter’s room? priceless.
(okay, it’s still 8 bucks. but it’s pretty cool either way.)
