Raise your hand if you love Kate Spade. Yep, that’s what I thought! Me too! I love all things Kate Spade, but those iconic black and white stripes and gold polka dots are especially swoon worthy! So when I decided to add some quick and easy Valentine’s Day decor to our home, I drew my inspiration from Kate.
As you probably know by now, paper mache letters from Hobby Lobby are one of my favorite craft supplies. I’ve used them for numerous other projects {like the Restoration Hardware inspired vintage industrial letters in Beckett’s room, my Crate and Barrel inspired HO HO HO letters, and our last name on our family photo shelves}.
There are so many fun ways to use these letters, and they are so versatile since they can be hung on a wall or sat on a shelf or table. I picked up two sets of X’s and O’s and started brainstorming ways to dress them up for Valentine’s Day.
Even though we have pops of hot pink in our living room during the spring and summer, I wanted to create some Valentine’s decor that departed from the standard pink and red. As I was flipping through a catalog I came across a photo of Kate Spade iPhone cases featuring the classic stripes and polka dots, and I instantly knew that’s how I would decorate my letters.
I started by giving each letter a coat of white acrylic paint, front and back.
Once the paint was dry, I started adding black stripes to one X and one O. Rather than trying to paint perfect stripes, I took the quick and easy route, and wrapped the letters in black electrical tape. The paper mache O has is quite rectangular in shape, making it easy to wrap in tape. I simply stuck the tape to the front side, wrapped it around to the back, and overlapped it.
Because of the angels, it was a bit trickier to wrap the electrical tape around the X, but I came up with a quick and easy method. I stuck a piece of tape to the front of the X, then wrapped it around to the side pressing it down flat in the correct position, then pinched the excess tape together at the corner. This is a bit hard to explain, but you’ll see what I mean in the top photo below. I used a small, sharp pair or scissors to trim of the excess at each corner. Just be careful not to trim off too much {but if you do, you can cover any white that shows through with a black Sharpie}.
The corners aren’t perfect, but unless you inspect them really closely, they look just great!
For the second XO set, I grabbed out the gold Sharpie paint marker that I had left over from my chalkboard globe project, and started drawing quick polka dots.
I carried the gold polka dots around the sides of the X and O, but opted not to draw them on the back {mostly to save time, since I knew I’d be sitting them in a spot where you would never see the back}.
These Kate Spade inspired Xs and Os were so quick and easy to make, but I couldn’t be more excited about how they turned out!
I already owned the paint, tape, and Sharpie, and I bought the letters on a half price sale – so the entire project cost me less than $5.
I don’t do a lot of decorating for Valentine’s Day, but I do like adding a few simple touches around the house to spread the love!
Here are a few other quick and easy Valentine’s projects that you might like, including a couple of free printables for you to download…
