Vintage Alphabet Wall Hanging Tutorial {Christmas in July}

I love Christmas! My favorit holiday is Easter but Christmas runs a very close second! It is the day our Savior was born and an entire season for sharing and giving. I don't know about you, but I cannot afford to buy gifts for all of the people that I want. Hopefully, by creating my gifts this year and starting early, I will be able to give as much as I want to.


All this month I am going to post easy crafts that are very inexpensive. I think that they would all make great Christmas gifts (as a matter of fact, many of them will be Christmas gifts). The crafts will include crochet (with simple stitches), scrapbooking, and general crafts. I will include a tutorial with them all. Also, keep an eye out for some link round-ups for even more ideas that I have found while searching the 'net.



I was perusing through blogland the other day and saw the CUTEST vintage alphabet wall hanging at "That's my Alphabet". I knew immediately I had to make this for my new classroom this coming school year.

I used my swagbucks search engine to look for some free printable vintage flash cards. Imagine my squeals of delight when I found these beautiful free cards at "The Handmade Home"!

Okay, now I knew I had to get to Dollar Tree and PRAY that they had some wall plaques I could re-cover. I ran in and flew down the picture frame aisle (I am not exaggerating!) and almost missed the perfect plaques hidden in the back of the shelf! Score for me!

Want to make one? Here's what I did:

Vintage Alphabet Wall Hanging Tutorial

what you need:

3- 10 x 10 pieces of board, heavy cardboard, plaques, etc

vintage or regular alphabet flash cards (I have some freebie flash cards linked below too!)

Mod-Podge

scrapbook paper that coordinates with the cards you choose



misc inks to distress your cards (optional)- I used "always apricot", "old olive", and "chocolate chip" Stampin' Up inks to do mine

old nail file or fine sandpaper



These are the plaques I found at the Dollar Tree. They were 10x10 inches- perfect!



What to do:

1. Print out your flashcards onto index cards or cardstock. I printed mine as 3x5 photos so that they would be the right size for my board.



2. Cut out the flashcards. I cut mine to 3x3. You can adjust your size to your liking but remember to adjust your backing piece to fit your cards!

Click on the images above to see the difference between a distressed card and one that is not. The "b" card is distressed.

3. Measure, cut, and Mod-Podge your scrapbook paper to the background. Next I distressed this entire piece. First I used my nail file to rub the edges smooth and I ran it over the entire piece to give it a worn look. Then I inked it. Check out my distressing tutorial if you don't have any distressing ink. I never use distressing ink!

4. Next, I distressed all of my images. I used the ink method mentioned above.

5. Using Mod-Podge, I attached my alphabet cards to my background pieces. Placing them in this order helps keep everything straight and even:

left top, right top, middle top; left bottom, right bottom, middle bottom; right middle, left middle, center piece

6. Coat the entire think in Mod-Podge one more time and allow it to dry. I sprayed a little clear sealant on mine to add some gloss because I have matte Mod-Podge.

That's it! Your Wall Hangings are ready!! Hope you enjoyed my little tutorial and give this a try! For $3, you cannot go wrong!

Some {FREE} alphabet flashcards:

Vintage Flash Cards

Regular Printable Flash Cards

Cute Flash Cards

Thanks for stopping by! Alicia Tweet

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