Metal (Zinc) Letters DIY

So....I have loved these letters for-evah. And, I so I marched myself right down to our little neighborhood (ahem, 30 minutes away) Anthropologie store, in Seattle, to pick myself up 7 of these puppies, for my laundry room. I had this "great" idea to get the letters W.A.S.H. D.R.Y...get it. Wash/Dry? Laundry room? Get it? Yeah. Anyway, when I got there, having not looked at the inter-webs at all, I saw that they were $18 each, and about dropped my grande vanilla latte. Ha!

So, I marched my little ol' self right home, pouted, and then got resourceful. Enter Ben Franklin Craft Store.

These are thick, cardboard, and only $2.99 a piece. Yes, that's more what I had in mind.

I got this metallic silver, which was fine, but as you can see from the next picture, just a little flat still.

Still needing a little som-somin'... 

So, I just mixed a tad of black w/ more metallic paint, and used the brushes to make the letters look soldered (learned that word from my engineer hubs!) by giving them "seams" where, if metal, they would've been attached.

As you can see, they look less flat, and more metal-y.

Now to hang. So, these guys are really light, so I just decided to use more Command hooks (seriously, need to get some stock in Command or 3M...no joke). These are flat, and meant to hang posters, but work for this application, as well.

Ok, couple things.

1. I wish I'd gotten and '&', so it said "Wash & Dry", but I can still add that

2. They aren't lined up properly, but I'm too pooped to care.

3. I know you're wondering what that thing is in between my letters, right? Its a fold out ironing board. Funny, huh? It was here when we bought the house, and I've used it a couple of times. I like it...too bad I don't iron more. Oh well!

Go DIY something for 20% of the cost of the original!!