Before I put the letters on I lined all my blocks up on my mantle so I could decide on the sizing pattern I liked. After I was satisfied with it I used a pencil to write on each block the letter it would be so when I took them down I wouldn't get them all mixed up. Garrett decided to photo bomb with the skeleton. If you want to see how I made the spiderweb garland you can click here.
After I figured out the layout, I took them outside and painted the sides and the front with black spray paint. You can use craft paint but I had 4 cans of spray paint in my work room so I used it.
After they had 2-3 coats on them and were dry (well almost I am so impatient) I went out to sand the edges a little with sandpaper to give them a distressed look.
Wouldn't you know all of the sudden every leaf in our back yard started falling down in a swirling dervish and it was starting to sprinkle so I did not get them as distressed as I wanted.
Once they were printed out I cut them with my scrap-booking paper cutter. Apparently my blade was dull because it left these paper turds along the edge.
So I got out my sandpaper and tried lightly sanding the paper from the back and it got all those little hangy pieces off!
Wait at least 5 minutes before you put your top coat on to seal your blocks or you will get bubbles.
I really love how they turned out and you can put them out straight like this:
Or you can stack them up like this:
If you want to see how my Halloween mantle finally turned out you can see it here.
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