DIY Metal Letters!

I've been lusting after these huge metal letters from Anthropologie (image from their site) for quite awhile, but I could never bring myself to pay $18 for one. Urban Outfitters also carries some in a smaller size for $10, but again my inner cheapskate said no way. So I lived my metal letter-less life admiring them from afar. Until now.


While browsing the internet for interesting DIY projects, I came across a blog by a fellow cheapskate who in fact had the same metal letter dream. Eureaka! Unfortunately, the link to that blog is long gone (as is the laptop that I found it on) and I had to recreate her steps from memory. I think I nailed it, though, because the letter turned out great!


What you need:
Any size letter or numbers from a craft store, made of wood or cardboard (the size I chose was $3.99)
Small foam paint brush ($1)
Black acrylic paint ($1.50)
Silver metallic acrylic paint ($1.50)

Paint the entire letter with a layer of black and let dry fully (one side was dry by the time I finished painting the other).

Once the black is dry, start layering on the silver. The blog failed to mention that you need about a million coats of silver to cover the black and my heart sank when the first few coats were virtually invisible. Fear not! Be patient and keep layering and this is what it will look like eventually.

Tada!

P.S.
I am now in the process of collecting sticks for next weekend's project:

So stay tuned.