SUPPLIES:

• 3/4″ wood block letters/numbers
• 1/4″ dowels cut to 6″ – 12″
• Martha Stewart Crafts paint in your choice of colors
• Tacky Glue
• paint brush
• wax paper

Start by cutting 1/4″ dowels down to about 6″ – 12″… the height of the stick is up to you. Using a nail file or sand paper, smooth the cut edges. I chose square dowels for ease of gluing but you can use round dowels too.

I’m giving you a range of stick length because you need to make it fit your word and design. If you know that one of your words needs to be tall (like the Mr) then your sticks might need to be longer – same thing with short – if you don’t want your word sticking out of the cake that high, make the stick shorter.

Lay your words out – backwards – because we are going to glue the dowels onto the backside of each letter.

Apply a small amount of glue to the backside of each letter and then add the dowel.

You know how precise I can get, so for all you ocd gals like me here’s a great tip: To make sure the dowel dries perfectly flush with the letter, place another letter under the end of the dowel to prop it up while drying!

Glue all your dowels to your letters and let them dry.

Aren’t they super cute!? If you are having a rustic wedding… you might not want to paint them – the wood by itself might be just perfect for you!

Next up, painting the letters. Using your choice of Martha Stewart Crafts paint… cover the entire letter and stick with paint. Here I only needed 1 coat of paint but depending on your color choice you might need 2.

Let each letter stick dry on a piece of waxed paper.

CRAFTERS TIP: for those letters with small crevices, use a pin to wipe out excess paint.

As you see here, I didn’t paint the ends of the sticks where I was holding them. There’s actually no need – since they will be hidden inside your wedding cake.

I know what you are thinking… paint + cake? Is it safe? These MSC paints are non-toxic, but they recommended painted surfaces to be kept away from food – personally I don’t think it’s a big deal for what we’ve got going on here, but that’s your call.

I think these are just darling!!! The tall painted sticks make such a bold color statement!