Cinnamon Stick Letter: Tutorial

Pin It

I don't know about you, but my kitchen is often in need of a little candle action, air freshener or the like. Between the trash can, the dog, and the occasional dirty diaper that fails to make it into the Diaper Genie, things can get kind of smelly. This was what prompted me to combine my need for new Fall door decor with something that would smell Autumn-y fresh. The first thing that came to mind was a cinnamon stick wreath, and as many of you probably know, there are several of these clever creations already floating around bloggy land. In an effort to be a tad different and veer away from making yet another wreath, I came up with this beautiful hanging letter for our pantry door!

I won't lie and tell you that this was a cinch to make because, honestly, it was a pain. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad if I weren't so anal about everything lining up just right, but these little cinnamon sticks took FOR-EV-ER to arrange on my letter. I would try one pattern... start over... try another pattern... start over... huff away from the table in frustration and contemplate taking Emma to Michael's so that I could buy a darn wreath... go back to the table and press onward with determination... and repeat this whole process once or twice more until everything finally came together. Regardless of what an undertaking this was, I am thrilled with the way it turned out and addicted to sniffing it each time I walk by. 

Want to know how I made this lovely letter? If you answered YES then this is your lucky day, my friends!

TUTORIAL: 

Supplies Needed:

-plain wooden letter

-paint brush/sponge

-multi-surface acrylic craft paint

-approximately 6 oz of 1-inch cinnamon sticks

-felt

-ribbon

-hot glue gun

-additional embellishments of your choice

1. Start by painting your letter. I chose a rich orange color for Fall. You can certainly use brown if you'd rather the little gaps between your cinnamon sticks not be so noticeable, but I thought it would be fun to bring some color in from the ribbon and felt that I used.

I discovered this new paint from Martha Stewart and love love love it! It's a multi-surface acrylic paint in satin, and it's sold in every color you can dream up. I highly recommend it!

Don't worry if your letter isn't perfectly painted since it will be covered by your cinnamon sticks later on. The picture below is after one coat of paint. Of course, being as anal as I am, I did end up using a second coat. 

2. Once the paint has dried, begin the long and tedious process of arranging the cinnamon sticks on your letter. I STRONGLY encourage you to arrange them BEFORE gluing them. If you're anything like me, these cinnamon sticks will be rearranged a billion times before they're ready to be secured.

The picture above is the arrangement that ended up working for me. If you want to save yourselves some time then please, by all means, use this picture as a guide and get it right the first time!

3. After your entire letter is covered, carefully leave the cinnamon sticks in place and slowly secure them, one by one, with a thin line of hot glue.

4. Give the glue sufficient time to dry and then turn your letter over to attach the ribbon.

Cut your desired length, heat seal the ends with a lighter, and hot glue one end of each ribbon to the back of your letter.

5. Now for the fun part! It's time to decorate your letter in whatever way you choose. It would certainly look just as nice with a simple, colorful ribbon, but I can't help myself... felt flowers are a tad bit addicting!

I chose to make a cute little "ruffled" flower. There are numerous tutorials on how to make these, but in the interest of making this your one-and-only-stop, I'll show you myself. ;)

Trace and cut seven equally-sized circles. To give you an idea of my flower size, I traced the lens cover from my camera.

Use one circle as the base and begin folding the remaining circles in half once and in half again.

Use a thin line of hot glue along the folded edge to secure four of the six petals onto your base. Each petal takes up 1/4 of the base circle.

Put a good dab of hot glue onto the bottom tip of your two remaining petals and press them firmly into the center of the other four petals. I used two different color petals for the center to add some contrast.

You should end up with a pretty, poofy, ruffled little flower, which I simply adore.

Whip out that hot glue again and choose the perfect spot for this flower on your cinnamon stick letter. Add a twig of berries for a final touch and you have yourself a gorgeous looking (and smelling) piece of Fall decor!

Tie a pretty bow and hang it somewhere snazzy!

Let me know if you decide to make a cinnamon stick letter of your own, and feel free to send me pictures!

 Here's to Fall and all of it's beautiful, bold, sweet smelling splendor.