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Spot of Tea Designs

Spot of Tea Designs

Baby Shower Activity: Paint Your Own Alphabet Block

in Baby, Crafts & DIY, Gifts and Toys, Printables

DISCLOSURE: Some of the links in this post contain affiliate links. To learn more about my affiliates, please review my disclosure policy here.

Baby Shower activity: Paint your own alphabet block | spotofteadesigns.com

Recently I shared the details from Allie’s transportation baby shower for Baby Boy K. Now here is a little more detail on the “paint an alphabet block” station. I prepped each block prior to the shower to make sure Baby Boy K had the right number of alphabets for his collection!

Baby Shower Activity Tutorial: Paint your own ABC Blocks. Step 1: sanding | spotofteadesigns.comI ordered the unfinished wood blocks from WoodWorks Ltd.  I felt they were still a little on the rough side (for a baby to handle) so I borrowed my brother-in-law’s electric sander and my hubby very graciously helped to smooth out each side and the edges! (Thanks again, Derek!)

Baby Shower Activity Tutorial: Paint your own ABC blocks. FREE PRINTABLE | spotofteadesigns.com

I designed the matching alphabet and number shapes on 1.75 x 1.75″ squares and cut them out with my ruler and craft knife. If you want these designs for yourself, click on the image above to download the two page pdf document of all 26 alphabets, numbers 0-9 and four vehicles designs.

Baby Shower Activity Tutorial: Paint your own ABC blocks | spotofteadesigns.com

Next up, I painted the edges of one or two sides of each block. I highly recommend the Deco Art Americana brand of acrylic paint! It covered with a nice thickness and dried quickly, which made painting the blocks a fun and quick craft. (note: At the time of writing this post I was not yet affiliated with the company, but now I’m happy to announce that I’m a Deco Art Blogger!)

Baby Shower Activity Tutorial: Paint your own ABC blocks | spotofteadesigns.com

I applied a layer of Mod Podge to the back of the sheet and laid it onto a painted square. I liked the look of different color backgrounds to the letters and I hope Allie did too! After that layer dried, I applied a second coat of Mod Podge on top of that side and allowed it to dry.

Transportation Baby Shower: Painting Alphabet Blocks Activity | spotofteadesigns.com

At the shower, I set up all the blocks in a large pile with the assortment of paint, paintbrushes, water bowls to clean the brushes and a few paper plates to mix or pour colors.

Transportation Baby Shower: Painting Alphabet Blocks Activity | spotofteadesigns.com

Guests were able to pick whichever alphabet block they wanted and paint the remaining sides. Here are a few things I learned from this experience:

  • I selected the primary colors I used throughout the shower and black and white paint, thinking it would make them all coordinate when looking at the painted collection. I was surprised, however, at how many people decided they needed more colors and spent time mixing their custom mix on the plate. I’d often hear someone using their old school color theory lessons and ask their neighbor “what colors do you think will make beige” or other colors needed. I love that they took the time to create their own for the needs of their custom design!
  • Encourage people to Google images and brainstorm on ideas. You can imagine that some letters, like X, Q and Z can be hard to fill. In fact, we didn’t get all the blocks painted at the shower. I was very happily surprised to see how much of an artist daddy Tim was during this post shower crafting session! I think Baby Boy K will be impressed by his dad’s versions of Viking, Zombie, Wolverine and other manly themed designs he came up with in the blank blocks completed at home.
  • Make a sign to encourage guests to sign their name on one side! Not only does it make one less side to have to paint, but it lets Baby Boy K know who made what!

Baby Shower activity: Paint your own alphabet block | spotofteadesigns.com

After the painting was complete, two more coats of Mod Podge were applied to seal in the paint and complete the collection for Baby Boy K!

Note: I wouldn’t recommend allowing little little babies who put everything in their mouth to play with this alphabet set due to the paper, paint, and decoupage glue. Instead wait until they are a little older and can enjoy stacking, playing and arranging these colorful toys!

Sharing With:

Just Between Friends, Craft Dictator, Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons, Thirty Handmade Days, One Dog Woof, Just Us Four, The Girl Creative, Blissful and Domestic, Two It Yourself, Flamingo Toes, Your Home Based Mom, Pink When,

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in Baby, Crafts & DIY, Gifts and Toys, Printables # derek

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Beverly says

    June 6, 2014 at 10:07 am

    What a clever idea. I really liked how your blocks turned out. What a neat thing to do at a shower.
    Bev

    Reply
    • Spot of Tea Designs says

      June 6, 2014 at 10:47 am

      Thanks Beverly! It was a hit so I highly recommend it as a fun activity!

      Reply
  2. Randi Sowders says

    June 11, 2014 at 12:27 am

    These are super cute! We did something similar at my friend’s baby shower, but with cut up pages from a Dr. Seuss book. I love how your’s came out! I would love it if you linked up with us this week, I could totally see something like this being featured!
    http://www.sowderingabout.com/2014/06/awesome-things-tuesday_10.html

    Reply
    • Spot of Tea Designs says

      June 11, 2014 at 8:33 am

      Thanks for the invite! I’ll check it out!

      Reply
  3. Stephanie says

    July 15, 2015 at 6:55 pm

    Hi there, this is such a great idea and you spelled it out perfectly! Can you tell me what size blocks you used?

    Reply
    • Spot of Tea Designs says

      July 15, 2015 at 8:18 pm

      Hi! Glad you like this idea! I ordered the 2″ Wood Square Cubes. If you end up doing this for a shower, I’d love to see the final result. I’m always looking for new submissions in my “Reader’s Feature” which showcases projects inspired by things seen on spotofteadesigns.com.

      Reply
  4. Jessica says

    February 22, 2019 at 1:39 pm

    Mod podge novice here! What kind of Mod Podge (finish) did you use?

    Reply
    • Spot of Tea Designs says

      February 24, 2019 at 7:46 pm

      I linked to the one I used in the post!

      Reply
  5. lara says

    November 1, 2019 at 8:47 am

    Hi what program did you use to design the letters. Id love to do this but with a different color scheme. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Spot of Tea Designs says

      November 1, 2019 at 1:26 pm

      Hi Lara! I always designs all my stuff in Illustrator but I’m sure you can create letters in a Microsoft Word type program too!

      Reply

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