by Michelle Kelly

 

Hello folks,

And welcome back to the start of your working week, (for most anyway). I hope you had a fun-filled break, full of laughter and good times.

I thought I’d ease us into the week with a really easy-peasy DIY project, these hammered metal table numbers provide a budget-friendly yet creative option for your wedding or party. Or why not just try them out as home decor, I think they’d look lovely on the wall in your kitchen or on your mantlepiece, either pick numbers that have some significance to you, such as a special date, or go for letters and spell out a word.

Personally I’d just leave it random!

Image credit: FO Photography

There really is just something about letters and typography that gets me really excited, I love the shape and form of all kinds of type and I am regularly collecting random letters and numbers to fill my home with. So recently, when I was thinking about a creative way to display table numbers for an event I knew I wanted to do something with 3-D type.

By that I mean these brilliant papier mache Kraft numbers that I’d had my eye on for a while!

I have said it so many times before that the simplest projects are the best ones and this one could not be any simpler, yet looks stunningly beautiful once applied. It’s also really budget friendly, with each number costing £1-£2 depending on which size you choose and the can of spraypaint coming in at a purse-friendly £10. I’d say one can will cover at least 5 of the small numbers. So folks even if you have 10 tables to fill with these wonders it should not cost you more than around £30.

You will need

• Papier mache Kraft numbers or letters of your choice.
• I purchased mine at Fred Aldous. They come in two sizes  Small: 10cm height 2cm deep (£1.00) and Large: 20.5cm height 2cm deep (£2.00)
• Tin of hammered metal spraypaint (or any spray paint will work)
• Old newspaper to lean on

How-to make hammered metal table numbers

{step one} Place your number on top of an old sheet of newspaper to protect your surfaces, I tend to spraypaint outside so the fumes aren’t getting to me and the spray doesn’t end up all over my house, just watch out for the wind blowing your spray everywhere. I’ve been known before now to paint my plants.

{step two} Spraypaint one side using even, light strokes and try to get it on the edging too. Leave it to dry (I’d recommend a few hours).

{step three} Once one side is fully dry you can turn it over and spray the other side. Leave to dry.

Alternatively you could stand them up (secured at the bottom with a blob of blue tac) and spray the entire thing, then once dry just finish off the bottom part. But be careful to have really thin coats as you don’t want the spraypaint to run and leave nasty run marks.

{step four} Repeat! I’d say two thin coats are better than one thick gloopy one so once you have both sides painted up and fully dried, repeat the process to finish them off.

{to finish} I nestled my metal number into this incredible flower display below that had been created by the clever Becky over at Blossom Flowers.

I think they add the perfect amount of texture and style to the arrangement, not looking out of place amongst the soft ruffley flowers and the more architectural succulents. The concrete planter was then sat atop a slate table runner which perfectly completed this twist on classic contemporary.

You could of course wire yours onto a long stick if your arrangement is in a taller vessel. And they’d look fab in a variety of colours, the only limitation is your imagination.

Image credit: FO Photography

I hope you like the tutorial, of course if you have any questions fire away in the comments box below and I’ll help where I can.

Make sure you drop by the blog this afternoon too as I have a rather exciting announcement to make about a fab new blog series coming your way.

Michelle xx

**Images used throughout the post taken by me, except where stated.

 

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