Present idea or DIY decoration?!

"WHORE", feminism. 

After my exhibition, I wanted to continue to display my work - hence why it is now all over my walls! Even though these letters were originally supporting studies for my Fine Art course whilst tackling Feminism, I don't see why this technique can't be a cool and simple way to add a creative and decorative spark to your bedroom!

This would also be an awesome way to celebrate a friends birthday; say it's their 18th or 21st? You could easily create these 3D letters/numbers to spell their name, age or initial. Furthermore, you could decorate the design with personal photographs, as opposed to magazine cut outs like I did.

If you want to know how to create these, then keep reading!

You will need:
- Thick cardboard (or something stable enough to allow your letters to stand or to prevent bending)
- Coloured paper/card to conceal the back (optional)
- Photographs, magazine cut outs etc. to cover the letters with.
- Stanley knife, sharp scissors or scalpel.
- Ruler to help with straight lines when cutting (optional)
- Pencil, pen, chalk etc. (something to sketch your design)
- Glue

So to begin, sketch out the letters/numbers onto your thick cardboard (I used a cardboard box), as you want to know exactly where you will be cutting. Next, using your stanley knife, sharp scissors or scalpel, cut out the characters - you can use a ruler to help you when cutting out straight lines. Once you have your cardboard characters, trace around them onto your coloured paper/card (I used black cartridge paper) and cut these out too. You should now have your letters/numbers cut out in thick cardboard and also your coloured paper/card.

Have a pile of your photos/magazine cut outs ready (or whatever you are covering the letters with) and then just collage them, using glue, all over the cardboard letters. Don't forget to overlap the cutouts, as you do not want the edges to eventually come lose and stick up! If you placing the coloured paper/card onto the back, then you do not need to cover the back of the cardboard with cut outs; only the front (make sure to wrap your cut outs around the side). However if you want to cover front and back of your letters/numbers, then well, cover the front and back!

Once you're happy with the collage over your characters, you would then stick your coloured card/paper onto the back of your letters/numbers if you are doing this step.

This is entirely optional - I didn't do this - but you could cover your letters with PVA glue, as this would dry to a clear, protective layer over the characters. Be careful though, if your cutouts are thin pieces of paper, then the PVA glue could make them go all soggy and ruin them, also the ink could run - yuck!

Good luck!