Make Block Letters out of Cereal Boxes

I decided to start this project because of a friend's Bridal Shower. Her shower was going to highlight the fact that her new name was going to start with a T, so all of the bridesmaids were supposed to provide Ts for decoration for the party and eventually decor for the couple's new home.

I started with a large-sized Special K box. 

Using a ruler and a pencil, I drew the outline of the letter. I decided each size should be 2 inches thick.

These dimensions gave me enough room to cut out all of the sides from one cereal box. For larger sized letters, or more intricate letters (like a G, for example) you might need more than one cereal box or cardboard.

Using a hot glue gun, I started gluing the pieces together to form the block shape.

There was a small bit of overlap, which I simply cut with scissors. 

Once the T was complete, I started painting it. This letter was meant to be for the Bride's future bedroom decor, which she informed me was going to be Navy and Yellow.

After the letter was fully painted, I had the bright idea to use bits of crayons and melt them, letting them drip down the sides.

This did not turn out the way I wanted it to! The first problem was that the crayons were too light and kept blowing away when I tried to used the hair dryer to melt them. Had I been confident I wouldn't have burned the house down, I might have placed the letter in the oven for the wax to melt. But I wasn't that brave. At this point, I should have given up on the crayon idea.... 

But I didn't. I decided that I should hot glue the bits of crayon to the letter so they wouldn't get blown away by the hair dryer. This is the result... Crayon melting FAIL! To be honest, the sides look how I wanted them too, but the front just looks janky. Yes, I said janky.

Out of desperation to revive my dying letter, I repainted the front face. I added a bow in an attempt to cover up the bumps left by the hardened hot glue. You can see them up close, but from far away, it looks ok. I also glued a piece of jute to the back to hang it on the wall. This craft is VERY light in weight, so it doesn't really take much to be able to hang it up.

In retrospect, I wish I had used a paint brush to apply white and yellow craft paint to the front edge of the letter. I think I could have controlled paint better than the melted crayon and gotten it to drip down the way that I wanted. Live and learn, I guess.

This project cost me a grand total of $0! I recycled the cereal box and old crayons. I already had the hot glue and craft paint. And found the ribbon in a random drawer in my house.

Note: Making the T out of an old cereal box was not an original idea of mine. I got the idea from lavendersbluedesigns. The crayon part, I thought of on my own, but I wish I hadn't.