DIY Decor: Make Recycled Cardboard Letters for Your Kitchen

Create DIY decor for your kitchen like colorful, recycled cardboard letters!

As I shared in yesterday’s post, 30 DIY Decor Projects for Your Kitchen, I moved into a different rental home with an ugly kitchen. I can’t paint the cabinets or do anything drastic, so I’ve been coming up with ways to make it more “me,” or at the very least, distract from the ugly. I remembered the recycled cardboard letters I created last fall and was inspired by the “Eat” cardboard letters from this kitchen from Thrifty Decor Chick. Rather than buying cardboard letters from a craft store, I upcycled a box left over from my move to create the phrase “Yum” above my kitchen cabinets.

What You Will Need:

1. Cardboard

2. Scissors

3. Low VOC spray paint

4. A pencil or pen

5. A ruler

6. Hot glue/hot glue gun (optional)

How To Do It:

1. Measure the area where you will place your letters. This will help you determine the size of the letters. Like I mentioned before, I wanted to put the letters above my kitchen cabinets, so I measured above the cabinets to make sure the letters would fit.

2. Draw Y, U, and M on your cardboard (or E, A, and T if you’d rather do eat). Then, cut them out.

3. Optional step: If you want to make your letters thicker than the previous recycled letters I made, you can easily create more “layers.” Simply cut out each letter 3 or 4 times each. Then, glue the 3 or 4 layers together with a hot glue gun. Make sure you don’t go overboard on the hot glue — if you get too clumpy, it might peek through. Once all of the layers have dried, trim any wonky areas.

5. Spray paint the letters!

I love the texture of the cardboard letters and the brightness of the red paint, don’t you? Operation distract-from-the-really-ugly-kitchen is in full swing, and I’m loving it!