Make your own decorative letters

I had been wanting some stuff to put on the ledge created by my kitchen cabinets.  I came across a blog where the blogger had the word "EAT" sitting on top of hers and I thought it was really cute.  I tried to find the source, but since I originally saw this last Spring and didn't pin it or save it in my favorites, my search was fruitless.  Anyway, I really liked the idea of decorative letters over the cabinets rather than the typical baskets or platters, but I couldn't find them in any of our local stores.  One of the downfalls to living in the backwoods is limited shopping options.  Walmart had some wooden letters, but they were a childish font and not as large as I wanted.  Then I ran across this tutorial on Pinterest.  It was meant to make pinatas, but I figured I could make it work.  I gathered some old boxes and got started. 

Disclaimer:  Due to the length of time this project took, photos were taken at different times of day so the lighting and white balance are wonky.

I sketched out the letters on cardboard, using a ruler to make sure they were even and all the same size.  I cut out 2 of each, for front and back.  Then I cut strips for the sides.

I used packing tape to attach the strips to one side of the letter.

I  used the hot glue gun to attach the other side, then secure the taped side a bit better.

The corrugated cardboard left rough ugly edges, so I decided to paper mache the letters to smooth everything out.  Babe Jr helped, this was messy and took several coats, but it was fun.

If you look closely, you can see we used old math homework and study guides for the paper mache.  Who gets a newspaper anymore?  Once it was completely dry, I painted them black.

Here they are on top of my cabinet.  I obviously need more accessories up there and they hadn't been propped up well yet, but I'm happy with how they turned out.  I still haven't got this staged so that I'm satisfied, but I'm getting there.