Valentine’s Day: Love Letters

I’m rounding out our Valentine’s Day inspiration with another easy and versatile DIY project – vintage game tile-inspired “love letters”.

I fell in love with the game tile favors from Parcel (as seen on our Valentine’s inspiration board) but I wasn’t so in love with the price or the time spent hunting down tiles on my own. I also wanted a little more creative freedom in the letter styles… lower case, script, different color backgrounds, etc.

So – why not make them?

You’ll need:

• Small square wooden tiles (I bought these on sale at Michael’s) – from 3/4 inch to 1 1/4 inches.
• Old magazines, newspapers, or other printed material
• A craft knife/razor and a cutting mat or other safe cutting surface
• Decoupage glue (I make my own by mixing 1/3 to 1/2 parts water to PVA glue)
• Foam or other small soft brush

1. Hunt through your printed material and cut out the letters you need – have one of your wooden squares at the ready to place over the letter and make sure it’s a good size. I tried to vary the styles, letter colors and background colors for an eclectic look; also, keep in mind the order that the letters will be in. (If you have trouble finding a few that you need, you can cheat a bit and print them out on regular copy paper.)

2. To create the tiles, place your wood square against the letter and use the craft knife to cut around it.

3. Brush glue onto the back of the cut out letter and place onto the wood square, being careful to line it up with the edges. Let it dry, then brush a thin layer of glue over to seal. You can add additional coats for a more shiny and smooth finish.

4. That’s it! Repeat for all your letters and let them fully dry.

There are so many ways to use them… for Valentine’s Day, weddings or other parties:

• Gifts or favors in a muslin bag – just add a tag, or stamp text onto the muslin
• Place cards or table signs – display right on the table or on a wooden Scrabble rack (you can find a ton on eBay)
• Table decor – place them on the table as part of the centerpiece or near each place setting
• Beverage tags – drill a small hole and add a wire hoop, then use to identify wine glasses and beer bottles
• Napkin wraps – drill and string letters together, then wrap around each napkin

Happy Valentine’s Day!