Floating letters spell the word "Family."

I found a bunch of nice looking picture frames on clearance at a dollar store (yes, clearance at a dollar store…unheard of, I know).  They ended up being about 50 cents each, so I bought all they had.  There were a lot of different sizes, so I wondered how I might use them.  A few weeks ago, however I decided to utilize them to decorate a family photo wall, but not by putting pictures in them.  Instead, I turned them into beautiful floating frames using vinyl lettering, which, when combined, featured the word “family.”

I used a new design of ours, FA032, and cut the word family into individual vinyl letters, each one a different size.  Then, I simplyl put each individual letter on one frame.  When all the odd sized frames combined, they spelled the world family, and having each letter on different frames gave our photo wall just the touch of personality I was hoping for.

Personalized Christmas gift for teachers.

If you’re the typical mom, you struggle each year finding the right Christmas gift for your children’s teather.  Amidst the hustle and bustle of the holidays, it can be difficult to find a gift that is economical, functional, and shows that you actually put some thought into it.  Last year we made 6″ decorative tiles using vinyl lettering, with a quote about teachers.  This year, however, we made customized pencil holders that turned out to be really cute!

What you need:

• Small Glass Jar (I got these at Walmart)
• Some ribbon (I chose red because it’s a Christmas gift)
• Some pencils (Got these at the dollar store)
• Custom Vinyl Lettering (available at wallstamps.net)

First, you have to get your glass jars, so you know what size of vinyl lettering to get.  I got glass jars that were about 4×4″ square.  Next, you need to get your custom vinyl letters to put the design on the glass. If you email anna@wallstamps.net, she can make the lettering to fit whichever glass container size you select (but it’s better not to go smaller than 4×4).

After you have your vinyl, you simply affix it to the glass jar.  Tie the ribbon around the top, and fill it full of pencils.  Now, you have a gift that was economical, thoughtful, and sure to get lots of use and attention by your child’s teacher.

Finished floating frame with vinyl lettering.

While there are so many things you can do with custom vinyl lettering, many people only use it for their walls, or for making decorative signs. In this post, I’ll show you another way to use custom vinyl letters to build a truly one of a kind home decor piece – a beautiful floating picture frame.

If you’ve never seen a floating picture frame before, I’ve posted an image of a finished one here. The floating frame can be used to house wedding pictures, family pictures, or just about anything you want it to be. The one pictured here highlights a family picture, along with a list of family values. As you can see by the finished image, this is a beautiful home decor piece, that would make an excellent gift.

Attaching the vinyl lettering to the frame.

The vinyl lettering is used to give the frame a little bit of personal charm, highlighting both the family name, and the established date.

If you’d like to create one of these beautiful frames, you can get step by step instructions at U Create, located here.

For many people, summer is the best time of year.  Whether you’re fishing, golfing, or relaxing in the pool, summer brings families and friends together in outdoor activities.   Summer is also the time when families get together for family reunions.  This is a fun time for most of the families, but can be stressful for those in charge of planning the family get together. Especially stressful can be planning activities to keep everyone involved, busy, and happy.  One thing many families do is institute a craft hour, where families can choose certain crafts to make.  One way to make this go off with a bang is to plan a few crafts that everyone (men, women, and children) will enjoy.  We’ve found that  making decorative signs is a fun way to do that, and it works best if you have vinyl lettering kits that cater to each group – women, men, and children.  We’ve had great success helping people make small 6″x12″ signs a part of their family reunion craft activity by providing vinyl letters kits about Golf, Patriotism, Kids Quotes, etc – which gives everyone something to participate in.  While our custom vinyl lettering kits are great for signs, they can also be used for decorative tiles, and wall letters (sometimes called wall words). 

Kitchen Decor Plates Using Vinyl Lettering

I love to go to people’s homes and see unique decor, especially in the kitchen.  I’m constantly amazed at how often vinyl lettering can be used in home decor. Aside from the traditional wall words, vinyl lettering can create some really unique home decor, even in the kitchen.  Recently I was at a friends home and saw some really unique decor items in her kitchen.  She had some very nice vines along the top of her kitchen cabinets with a nice home decor sign that featured a quote about hot bread (butter 25cents extra), along with some other items.  However, what reallly caught my eye were some decorative plates she had next to her stove, right under her spice rack.  They were simple ceramic plates that matched the decor of her kitchen, but the plates had printed on them different vegetables, such as tomato, onion, olive, etc.  They were on plate stands, and the lettering and graphics were painted on.  I thought, “how easy would this be to recreate using vinyl lettering?”  So, I went to the store, bought a couple of colored plates that matched my decor ($2.00 each) and recreated the decorative plates using vinyl letters. When all was said and done, I had recreated the same decorative plates at a fraction (about 1/4) of the cost that my friend paid for her decorative plates.

One of the things I love about vinyl lettering is that with a little creativity you can use it to make some very unique gifts that may look very expensive, but are in reality very affordable.  Custom vinyl lettering offers so many choices in creating unique gifts that we couldn’t possibly mention them all.  However, here are some of our favorite gift ideas using vinyl letters:

Decorative Sign

Decorative Signs

It’s amazing what a little bit of acryllic paint, and some cusotm vinyl lettering will do to a plain 6×24x1″ wooden board.  Paint the board with acryllic paint, distress the edges, and apply some vinyl lettering made specifically to fit the board (available at Wall Stamps), and you’ve got the makings of a beautiful wooden sign.  One of the favorite gift ideas we give for weddings, or christmas is a decorative sign with a couple’s name and est. date.  Use your imagination to choose the fonts and colors that will truly make your sign stand out.

Etched Pyrex Baking Dishes

Etched Pyrex Dish

Just about everyone has glass baking dishes, whether their Pyrex, or another brand (my favorite is Ikea, only $7.99 for a large) you can turn an ordinary glass baking dish into a truly unique gift with a reverse lettering kit and some glass etching creme (available at almost any craft or hobby store).  Use the reverse lettering kit as a stencil, brushing the etching creme onto the exposed glass, which will etch the lettering into the baking dish.  We have often etched the phrase “Baked With Love from the Holdaway House” into the bottom of our pyrex dishes.  This sure does beat using a sharpie or masking tape…and you usally get your dishes back after loaning them out, or cooking dinner for the neighbors.

Decorative Tiles

Decorative Tile

Decorative tiles are a great gift.  They are great to display on a mantle, desk, dresser, or entry way table.  With a little bit of customization, you can create a truly unique, one of a kind gift that will show that special someone just how much you care…and how much thought went into their gift.  Decorative tiles make great gifts for young women, friends, teachers, and grandparents. A 6″ tile is inexpensive to buy, and the lettering kits from Wall Stamps are also very reasonably priced.

While there are numerous ways to use vinyl lettering to create unique gifts, these are some of our favorites.  We’d love to hear what your favorite vinyl lettering gifts are.  You can either comment on our blog, or email me at anna@wallstamps.net

Vinyl Lettering Helps You Create Beautiful Home Decor Signs.

I meet people all the time that love the vinyl lettering that we make.  However, some of them express concerns that they either rent, and want something that they can take with them, or that they love the lettering so much that they want something they can share with others.  The perfect solution to this is to use some custom vinyl lettering to create a home decor sign.

Here are some simple instructions for creating a beautiful home decor sign:

1. Order your vinyl lettering kit.  Once you order the kit, you’ll know what size to make the board
2. Get your board.  You’ll want to measure the vinyl letters, and then add 1″ to each side.  This gives room for a border, so the lettering doesn’t crowd the edges of the sign.
3. Paint the Board.  You can get some nice acrylic paint for about .50 cents at almost any craft store.  Choose a color that compliments your decor and will provide a nice background for the lettering color you chose.
4. Distress Edges.  If you like the rustic look, you can distress the edges by sanding off some of the paint with a sanding block.   If you like a clean and contemporary look, you can leave the sign as it is.
5. Apply the lettering.  Make sure your board is clean and free from dust.  Line out the lettering and apply it with the application instructions that accompanied your order.
6. Insert Hangers.  You can use sawtooth hangers to affix to the back of the board.  These are inexpensive and will let you hang the sign.
7. Enjoy.

Once you’ve created your first sign you’ll probably find that it’s addicting.  That’s because you managed to create a beautiful home decor sign that would have cost you a small fortune from a boutique – and you did it without spending much.

Vinyl Lettering Used to Created Etched Storage Jars

Recently Matha Stewart hightlighed another unique way to use vinyl lettering to create unique home decor.  On Martha’s show she showed us how she uses vinyl letters to give pantry jars an etched effect, creating beautiful, and functional etched glass storage jars for storing staples like flour, sugar, brown sugar, etc.

To create the jars you’ll need:

1. Glass Storage Jars
2. Painters Tape
3. Vinyl Letters
4. Etching Creme

Tape of a square area of the front of the jar with the painters tape.  Then apply the vinyl lettering where you’d like the letters to appear (within the taped off area).  Next, cover the exposed glass area within the taped off section with etching creme, covering the vinyl letters.  Follow the directions on the etching creme container.  When you’re done, you’re going to peel of the used vinyl lettering, which will leave the glass area beneath unexposed to the etching cream, thereby giving you a nice etched glass container (see photo).

Easter Blocks Created with Vinyl Lettering from Wall Stamps

If  you’ve never seen stacker blocks, I can tell you this – most people love them!  They’re fun and simple to make using vinyl lettering, are a beautiful decor piece, and can be done to match your decor for any holiday throughout the year.  We decided to show you some stacker blocks we made for easter this year.

We got some scrap wood from a building site that was going to be thrown away (my uncle owns a site…and donated the wood).  You can either get scraps, or buy some from a home improvement store.  I chose 2×4 and 2×6 pieces of differing lengths (see image).  I then painted them in pastel easter colors…sanded down the edges to give the blocks an antique / distressed look.  Next we measured the workable surface of each block…laid them out from start to finish with the intent to create the word “Easter.”  We had 6 blocks of differing sizes, laid them out how we wanted and assigned each a letter – e, a, s, t, e, and r.  Next, we cut the vinyl letters out to fit the size of the block on which we placed it.  We applied the letters to each block, and voila! We have a fun and beautiful table piece for the upcoming easter holiday.

Chore Chart Made With Custom Vinyl Lettering

Do you ever get frustrated that your kids aren’t doing their chores, or maybe your husband isn’t pulling his weight.  Well, put an end to the haggling over who does what around your house with a family chore chart.  This chart, made with a wooden sign blank, magnets, sheet metal, and vinyl lettering will help keep your family chores lined out.  Also, you can keep things mixed up by rotating chores each week.  Furthermore, you can customize the chart and the number of chores to match your family, and number of kids.  You’ll never need to ask “who’s turn is it to take out the trash?” again.  Simply look at the chart and you’ll know exactly who’s neglecting their chores.

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