Today’s post is such a fun one because it’s a Valentine’s Day project and fun DIY method all in one! I’ve been wanting to create a heart letter board since I opened my shop, but wasn’t sure how to paint felt. After a bit of experimenting, I finally came up with how to paint a letter board. And psssst! It’s easier than you might think! Here’s how:
Materials
– Felt Letter Board (the one I used is from my shop!)
– Fabric medium
– Acrylic paint
– Paint brush
– Heart stencil (optional)
Because the letter board is decorative and not something that will be laundered, you don’t need to heat set the paint. The fabric medium will dilute the paint to avoid the felt from drying hard.
To make my stencil, I printed out a heart and traced on card board. You could also free hand your design or pattern, but keep in mind that the paint won’t come off the felt once it’s come in contact.
When choosing a paint color, for easy coverage, pick something that is darker than your letter board. It takes much less paint to use a red on a pink vs a pink on a red. Follow the ratio on the back of your fabric medium (mine was 1:1) to dilute your paint. If you apply acrylic paint without diluting, your felt will become hard and it will make it difficult to apply letters. The mixture should be very thin so it applies almost like a dye would, but not so thin that you don’t have any control.
I traced my stencil then filled in the inside with paint. Use a thinner brush or even a thin marker for tracing. I had to do a bit of line touch up due to the ridges of the board. Definitely keep those ridges in mind when planning your design!
You’ll really only need to apply 1 coat of paint (again, you still want to be able to use the letter board). Allow the paint to dry fully (at least 24 hours), before adding letters. And that’s really all there is to it!
This is such a great way to customize your letter board to something completely fun and unique! How great would a whisk + recipe be for a kitchen?! Seriously there are so many ways you can use this technique and I can’t wait to see what you make!
