I LOVE how this letter turned out. I absolutely love monograms, but there wasn’t a letter anywhere that I liked. So I decided I could make my own! In this tutorial I will show you how to make your own custom letter using a cereal box and paper mache.
First, find a font that you like. You can visit dafont.com and look through hundreds of custom fonts. Make sure when choosing that you pick one that you know will stand up ok. Make it the size you want in Microsoft Publisher. Mine was bigger than an 81/2 x 11 sheet so it printed onto 4 pieces. If that happens just tape them together.
When you have the letter you want trace and cut it out on a cereal box. Be sure to cut a mirror image for the back of the letter.
Now it’s time to construct your letter. You will need to cut strips out of the cereal box in the thickness you would like your letter. I did 2 inch strips. The next step would be to tape them in between the letters. Make sure you shape the strips around any curves or angles that are on the letter.
Make note, you will use A LOT of tape… Well, I did anyway. I didn’t want my letter to fall apart.
Once the construction part is done, it’s time to paper mache. Take a newspaper you have laying around and cut it into strips. I really can’t tell you how much to cut. I cut up 2 smaller newspapers and had a ton of strips left over.
To make the paste, you will mix one cup water, one cup flour and 1/2 tbs of salt. Be sure to mix well to get all the lumps out.
Dip the newspaper into the paste and wipe off excess paste and adhere it to your letter. Continue doing this until the front and back is covered.
Let dry completely.
Do a second layer of paper mache the same exact way.
Let dry completely. I set it outside each time to let it dry. I was impatient and wanted it to dry faster!
Once it’s dry you will want to take a fine sandpaper and sand down some of the rough spots.
I then painted it with a marigold color. It took two coats to cover the newspaper. Because it’s paper mache you will see bumps. I didn’t mind this, it made it look more distressed. If you want to cover these bumbs,you could take a texture paste and use a stencil to create a cool design before you paint.
When the paint was dry I took a gel stain and brushed it all over the letter then took a rag and wiped it off. I added a little more stain in places just so that it wasn’t all uniform. The stain gives an aged look that I like. I did this until I got the look I wanted.
That’s it! So easy! I’m thinking of other letters I can make!
I would love to see your letters if you make one!
Crystal 
{ 119 comments… read them below or add one }
That is so cool! I would have never have thought of doing that. You are just crazy crafty….
ttyl,
Becky
cute! i need a letter A
Love it! My Chase wants a letter, so I guess I will be on the search for a flat bottomed C. LOL! Great job!
Thanks! You don’t have to go searching too far for a flat C. You can take any letter and make a flat bottom. Just cut your pattern with a flat bottom after you print it.
You are a wise woman. Just today i was thinking about how i could do this…you have saved me many brain cells–bummed that i didn’t see this sooner before i bought and covered one from JoAnns. I wasn’t thrilled with the shape but figured that was what was available–now i know i have options. Thanks for sharing your brainchild!!!
Leigh ann- I saw your “lucky” on your blog and it is too dang cute!
You are so darn talented!!!!
PS…My favorite is the Cherrio’s box!
WOW! I love the finish on it. I’m going to make some for my friends for them to remember me when I move away. One question though, did you use just one cereal box for the whole thing?
I actually used some flexible chipboard I had laying around. You will for sure need to use another box for your sides.
Crystal! I love your website! I am so excited that I found it! This homemade letter is AMAZING. This craft is my favorite kind – FREE. I also have a great love for paper mache so this is right up my alley. You are truly talented!
A friend had posted this on FB and I love it! I would love to feature you and this post on my site if your interested….Thanks again for sharing, so creative!!! amy@goodideasandtips.com
I did not think to use cereal boxes. They came out great. We actually made center pieces for graduation, with the first letter of the school they are graduating from. Then we painted them with school colors and made a collage on them. We put cupcakes around the letters on each table. The graduates took them home. Thanks for your help.
Ohh you give me a inspertions,,beauteful,,cant wait too try to do my one,
Thangs for your tips.
I linked your tutorial on my blog (http://babysturges.blogspot.com/). I was having some issues on what I should do about letters in my nursery and this completely solved my problem! Thanks so much!!
Thank you! I’m glad that my tutorial was a solution for you!
What was the name of the font you used?
I believe it’s called Storybook
Do you think this could be done using poster board? I am needing 2′ – 3′ letters. When the mache sets up will it be strong enough without the sturdiness of the cereal box cardboard?
I would think that the poster board might be a little to lightweight. Cereal boxes are heavier.
I think it will be sturdy enough. I’ve made paper machier pinatas and filled them with heavy candy. If you’re worried about it, you could do a few extra layers of paper machier. The cereal box or poster board (or in my case, the balloon) is only used to give it form.
Yes, you can make furniture from paper mache……it can be very strong if you need it to be!
I have used the posterboard with the graph lines on it…believe it is called “Ghostwriter”. Just cut out four letters of the exact same shape…two for the back and two for the front. Proceed thru the remaing steps as in the tutorial.
I have never heard of posterboard with graph lines. That would make things easy!
I was thinking of adding rolled up bits if cardboard to the inside to hold the shape in case a accidentally squash it – perhaps you could do that?
This is great and so cost efficient!! I’m going to be saving some cereal boxes up.
Sooo excited! I have a craft been dying to do where you modge podge family photos onto a letter. I want to do “love” to put in my entry way and at $10.00 a letter at joann’s it got to be a spendy craft. Now I can do it for free. Thanks for the inspiration.
Shannon- I would love to see your finished project when you get it done!
I did one of these, but it was a giant #2 for my son’s 2nd birthday pis. I used corrugated cardboard for the front and back and file folders for the side curves. Gave it a faux marble finish. File folders are flimsier than cereal boxes, but it worked just fine and once you paper machet it, it’s really sturdy. (I don’t buy cereal in boxes… just bags. lol)
What a cute idea to do for a birthday! I will have to keep that in mind for the future.
How cool is that?!! Awesome idea!
When I go to print the really big letter in microsoft word, does it automatically print on the for four (or however many) pages? Or do I have to change any settings?
Yes it should automatically print on however many pages it takes.
If you are going to put pictures on it, would you just do all the steps except painting, and then after paper mache dries….modge podge the the pictures on?
Yes you could skip that painting part of it, but if you are like me and need it to be “finished” I would probably still paint it.
I LOVE this idea! I’ve been trying like all night to print off a letter as big as yours and my Microsoft Word only cuts the letter off and won’t print the letter on multiple pages:( It is VERY frustrating! Do you have any idea why or how I can fix it?
Hi Amber!
I sent you an email… Can I assume that since you have microsoft word that you have publisher?
Do you remember the name of the font that you used? I’m making Letters for my daughter and her college roommate and LOVE your font.
I believe it’s called Storybook!
So doing this for my daughters outdoor weddingin May. We’re doing rustic chic using mason jars, burlap, twin, hydrangeas and LOTS of twinkle lights. going to make several sizes of these and scatter them about on several tables. What a lifesaver you are!!!!
Linda – That sounds like it’s going to be very pretty! Love the idea of making the letters and putting them on tables!
It would be a cute idea to make the bride’s initial “tied” to the groom’s initial with your twine!! :~)
I love this!! Copying your link for my daughter. She’s so crafty, and I know she’ll love it too!
I was thinking Modge Podge…maybe some scrapbook paper would be AWESOME! And I love the picture idea that someone else had…thought that may be a GREAT GIFT IDEA!!! Especially for Grandparents!
I love the idea of doing scrapbook paper or pictures all over it!
Making mine right now! I’ll upload more pics as they come on, but you can see my beginning of it here: http://thefuturemrsgoggans.blogspot.com/2011/12/cereal-box-monogram.html?showComment=1323358214526#c8663094081642057011
I can’t wait to see the end result! I better get started on the ones I plan on making for gifts!!
Well done!!!!!!
Love your project! I just wanted to let you know that I featured it today on my blog Sew Rockin’. You can check it out at: http://www.sewrockin.com/2011/12/09/you-sew-rock-me-fridays-8/
Awesome job, I can’t wait to see what else you come up with!
Jamie @ sewrockin.com
I made one! Two actually…
Haven’t painted it yet, still deciding what I want to do with it.
That’s awesome! Thanks!
I made one! Two actually…
Haven’t painted it yet, still deciding what I want to do with it.
http://johnandmollyjostark.blogspot.com/2011/12/random-photos_10.html
I love this!! I tried to get a font from this website and had problems opening the tff. file. But I did manage to find one I liked on Microsoft Word. Can you explain how you printed such a large letter in Word? I tried it but only 1/2 of the letter shows on the page and there aren’t any additional pages to view.
Thanks for your help! Again, I just love this! I’m planning on using mine for my mantel in the den.
I started this project tonight and the letter “C” is now drying out. I feel as impatient as you did
I hope it’s dry by the morning. I’m really impressed with how well it turned out thus far. I hope to make more in different letters and sizes. Thanks for this great idea!
Kim
LOVE the paper mache letter….especially since it’s a “B” and the first letter of my last name. I’m planning on using this technique to make a GIANT “B”. Need to fill some space on top of my kitchen cabinets….have 4 feet to ceiling and the “B” will be the perfect thing!
I love this! What font did you use?
Thanks! It was a lot of fun… The font is called Storybook, you can find it on dafont.com
I’m looking to do a project similar to this and wondering how to get it to print on four pages like you did. I need a pretty large letter. Microsoft word isn’t cutting it.
Hi Katie!
I’m sorry for the confusion. I really need to edit my post, I used Publisher, which you will have since you have word. Here is how I did it. If you have any other questions let me know!
First change your paper size to 12×12 even if your printer isn’t a large format printer. Go ahead and set your letter up with font and size. The font I used on mine was storybook and maybe 500 would be a good size. I can’t remember what mine was, but you can figure that out with the ruler. You can go up to 999.9, which it quite large and will use up a lot of paper to print! Anyway, when you have that set up go to file, print properties, hopefully you have a page setup, under that tab there should be a place for printer type and you’ll want to chose Poster printing. You can then specify how many tiles to print. I would do the least amount. Then you can go ahead and print it. After it’s printed you will just have to cut and tape the letter together. I hope that helps and I hope that you are able to do that with your printer. All printers are a little different. Let me know if you have any other questions!
This is AMAZING!!! I really admire your work. I use old cereal boxes for crafts but never to make a paper mache letter… you really have me inspired
) I hope it’s okay, I just couldn’t help but feature your fabulous letter B on my new blog. You can see it here:
http://frugal-home-design.blogspot.com/2012/02/diy-paper-mache-home-decor.html
Thank you so, so much for sharing this and also for the awesome photo illustrated tutorial
)
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
You have a fun blog, lot’s of fun and easy ideas!
Hey! This is great! I just wanted to share that the letter can be created and printed in Paint also (the program included on most windows computers under accessories). I have word, but not publisher. So for those like me who don’t have publisher, paint will print a huge letter onto multiple pages!
Thanks and keep the ideas coming!
L.O.V.E this!
This is awesome! I’m in the process of making an indoor monogram wreath from your tutorial, and I am loving the results thus far. One question for you – where can I get my hands on the gel stain paint?
How fun! I would love to see how it turns out! I bought the stain at my local craft store Michaels in the paint section.
You Rock girl! Thanks so much for sharing this with us. I so appreciate crafters who share their crafts!
Chattanooga, TN here
You are welcome! It was a fun project!
Thank you sooooooooooooooooooo much for sharing. The wheels in my little head are spinning at the possibilities. Love your website too. Keep the dooable crafts coming..
Thank you for a great idea! You can also change the color of the letter to a very light grey so you don’t use up all your ink! I printed a small letter and will have to take mine to a copy store because I can’t seem to get the printer to print that large, there is no poster option
still cheaper than buying it!
You can also use Paint Shop Pro to print your letter if you don’t have access to Publisher. I used an older version 6.02, which you can download a trial version if you do a search.
I love how this turned out! And what a great idea…it’s hard enough to find large paper mache letters to purchase, let alone having any type of selection at all! I am looking for ideas to decorate my son’s bedroom, and I’ve decided on a travel theme because he love maps and atlases. I’m going to make a giant “F” for Felix, and decoupage it with a road map! Thank you so much for sharing this tutorial!!
I love it! I’m an initial freak too! The letters for my family are “L” & “M”, so that doesn’t seem too hard. I may try some others for gifts thought! Thanks!
Great post!! Thank you so much. I have been looking for letters for a long time & couldn’t find the right size or font! Now I am going to try myself!! … Right now!!!
You are mentioned in my post here http://trixih.blogspot.com/2012/03/paper-mache-letter.html check it out
You’re such a genius! Ive been searching for ideas for such a long time! Now know exactly what to do! Thanks. Instead of painting I’m planning to wrap the letters with a particular theme wrapping paper. After the two coats of paper mâché would you suggest I wrap it using the same glue paste or should I use PVA glue. Also I don’t want mine to be this big,A4 size would be perfect as I want to hang it on the wall. Would you suggest to use tape to attach a ribbon on at the back to hang it or any ideas? Thanks
Crystal, aren’t you the clever one! I have just been thinking off and on for about 2 weeks about how I could make a large letter! See, I just ask the Universe and it (you) provided an answer. I can’t wait to try this. Thank you so much for posting!
What a GREAT tutorial!! Thanks soooo much for sharing!!
~Lisa
Good job. I made a case for my mandolin from an old suit case. Cut it down to size and put it back together with glue and pop rivetts. sanded off the rough edges and spray painted it black. I filled it with styrofome and cut out for the mandolin. I still want to make one using a styrofome base, then cover it with paper mache. I made a cardboard case, but still want to improve on it. i may cover it with paper mache.
Pretty sure you are a GENIUS!!! This gives endless options of letters and sizes and is SO CHEAP!! Thank you!!! I am SO excited to use this!!
Thank you very much for this. There aren’t a lot of craft stores in Philippines and I wanted a 3D monogram for the longest time. I don’t have a scroll saw (not that I know how to use one) so I’m definitely going to do this! Great site by the way!
Hi there.. I just finished a cereal box crafts round-up and just couldn’t help but feature your B! You can see it here:
http://jamiebrock.hubpages.com/hub/Super-Cute-Cereal-Box-Crafts
Thank you so much for sharing this awesome tutorial with us
I made an awesome ”F” for my best friend Fran’s Birthday. I also used some tips from pintrest and added Eileen’s Tacky Glue to add some 3d elements. You memtioned that you would love to see pictures. How does one upload them to your site?
Thanks so much for the GREAT tutorial!
I’m so glad you posted about this. I’m going to make some wall letters for my friends baby and this will save me some money. Plus I can use any font I want. Thanks so much!!
My last name begins with a T, so there isn’t a lot of creativity that can go into that letter! But this is still going to be a cool project to try out!
Wow! this is such a fab tutorial. Thanks so much for this, I had an idea to make the word EAT or COOK for my kitchen wall and struggled to find the letters at a decent price, now I can make my own. : ) Can’t wait to get started, you’re a genius!!
xx Vee
Omigosh, you are AWESOME! I’ve been looking for a large letter to decorate for my granddaughter’s birthday and Joann’s is out of the letter I need. It’ll take two weeks for my “special order” to come in, but I don’t have the time for that! Now I can make my own, in the font I want! THANK YOU!!!!!
Hi Crystal,
I’m trying to make a series of letters (about 20″ high and 6″ wide) to make the words “JUST BE”. It’s due in about a week. I was curious about how big you letter is, long your process took, and whether or not I might be in over my head.
Thanks for the awesome tutorial, it’s truly inspiring!
What a great idea. Thanks!!
Crystal,
Could you possibly make one for an S because my sister is going into colledge soon and I wanted to get somthing for her Doorm.
Thanks!,
Natalie
This is totally awesome….thanks a bunch!!!
I love it! i made a K and a J for me and my fiances wedding, trying to find the best (&) symbol to put between them but ours wont be sitting as we are hagging them above our table, fiance thinks its a great idea because we went to hobby lobby to buy them and they are 11.99 each
so you saved us and my sister thinks we should try minichure one and put them on each table! ( and after the wedding i plan to hang them in our bed room above our bed!!
Making miniature ones would be cute at the tables, I would love to see the outcome!
I wanted to do this lesson for my 9th-12th-graders in a few weeks & was looking for a step-by-step instruction site. Yours is tops!
What a fun project to do in school! I hope that it goes well for you!
How long did this project take from start to finish, with drying times? Love your craftiness – hoping I can recreate it for my living room!
This is brilliant. I own a chocolate fountain / candy buffet business and always want to do the bride and grooms or whosoever party it is names but its just far to expensive to buy. And these look so much better!!!!!!
I recently did some note pads and postcards out of old cereal boxes but this is AMAZING!!! LOVE! Thanks for sharing, fab tutorial and I’m sharing it over on my FB today
Great project! So thrifty and such a great use of items one would just recycle. What I love about this is that it is child friendly and one could use just about any font! Thank you so much for sharing. This is definitely getting saved to make later.
So cool! I have been thinking that those letters are WAY to expensive in the craft stores! Thanks for the great tutorial!
Great Idea. Thanks for share some little secrets and mistakes. Since brazil.
I stumbled upon your blog while looking for DIY marquee letters. It has been so hard trying to find an ampersand symbol (&) so you inspired me to make it myself! I didn’t enlarge the symbol when printing my template; I just made it as big as one page would allow. This only took up three quarters of the cereal box which works out fabulously because I didn’t want it the same size as the other letters I’m doing. Thank you again for the inspiration!
could you use spray paint? to get bright colors? & do like a hanging letter?
I am using your idea to make a sparkly marquee letter for my moms birthday! Equipped with globe lights and all! I wanted to make this for her, but didnt want to have to drive to a Joann (there isn’t really a convenient one by me), so your idea saved me soo much time and GAS!! Awesome! Thanks!
Hi, I was wondering what was the font that you used?
So, I discovered a nifty shortcut as my little sis made fun of me for making an ‘L’ the night before a bday party for our little buddy Luke–me madly cutting, taping, and paper-mâché-ing after baby girl & daddy Finally went to bed. Doubtful that I would have attempted this so close to ‘party time’ (tomorrow at 11am), if it were for a ‘Gregory’ or a ‘Brandon’, but an ‘L’ is easy! I placed my lovely paper-mache’d ‘L’ in the oven on super-low, around 170F, for 35-45 minutes & it dried quickly & beautifully, making it easy for me to get in a second layer before calling it a night. No problems! Followed the rest as you wrote….call it an addendum borne of impatience, necessity.
Thanks for a great tutorial!
The other details, just in case…
I placed the paper-mache’d letter upright on a piece of parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet on the bottom rack of the oven. I did rotate it 180 once during the drying time, just so it would dry evenly. As I became more impatient (& sleepy), I raised the temp to 180F, still no problems. Dried fast & lovely. Now, night-night!
thanks so much for this fabulous idea!
I was wanting to make a giant letter for a long time but not sure how to do it in an inexpensive and easy way until I saw this post.
I took it a step further and did a bit of decopage with flowers cutouts from some gardeing mags i had laying around. overall, a bit time consuming but very easy and the final product is well worth it. wouldnt even think that it started from a simple cereal box
Cr ystal… my sister and I are going to be doing some paper mache projects .. the letter idea is a great idea … have you ever done a paper mache project that was covered in black / white pictures … If so did you have problem with the ink coming off when applying them and / or putting on the top coat??
Wow i love it, now i could make a sign for my grand daughters room may be her name because she is learning to spell her name, i cant wait.
Thanks so much for this great tutorial! I wanted to make a replica of the famous LOVE statue for Valentine’s Day and couldn’t find letters in a font that looked anything like it. Its taking me quite a while (I’m a newbie at crafting stuff and also a bit of a perfectionist) but I will try to take some pictures when its all done.
What font did you use in that sample?
Wow…your tutorial is a godsend! I have resisted buying letters at craft stores because the whole words ends up costing more then I want to invest. Now, I can make my own…..THANK YOU!!!!
Absolutely brilliant idea!! You’re so creative & savvy…i so want to be like you when I grow up!
Do you think that cardboard boxes would work instead of cereal boxes? Just finished moving and have a lot .
Hi there I was just curious what font did you use for the initial B? Thanks, shelly
That’s Awesome! Thank you!
I Might Do This, This Week
You know what I love about this the most …….
That you have shown what can be done without having to rush and pour money into some craft shops till. I am playing around with a few ideas at the moment. I am a wedding planner/wedding stylist and want several carnival style lights to play with. Look at this site, inspiring but expensive http://godsownjunkyard.co.uk/gallery.html … BUT WHO GIVES A DAMN when we can eat cereal whilst figuring on what creative sensation we are going to do with the box. Three of my own tips; Use a mix of wallpaper paste and pva glue (very strong), tear the paper (natural tears don´t leave a raised edge) and as I didn´t want any breaks in my sides I found a roll of fine stand paper and used that instead. Brilliant Job Miss Brown : )
I just took the letter idea and used 1 cup of water and 1 cup of flour NO SALT (It won’t dry) and made a “T” for my mother.
She cried.
I’m 20 years old. xD
hey crystal !
my letter is not standing perfectly , its just sinking downwards
what should i do ??
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