How to Decorate Wooden Blocks
Turn plain wooden blocks into eye-catching, entertaining and educational toys for a toddler or preschool-age child using basic craft supplies like patterned paper, card stock, stickers and adhesives. Decorate each face of the six-sided blocks to showcase an image, texture, letter or number to help your child discover and practice basic concepts while playing with the stackable toys. Create the engaging blocks to make a memorable, personalized gift for a child's birthday, Teacher Appreciation Day or baby shower.
Things You'll Need
- 2-inch-square wooden blocks
- Fine-gauge sandpaper
- Scissors or paper trimmer
- Decorative paper with stripes or plaids
- Double-sided tape
- Letter, image and number stickers
- Fabric swatches
- Pinking shears
- Colored card stock
- Decoupage glaze and brush
Instructions
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1
Sand 2-inch-square wooden blocks with fine-gauge sandpaper to eliminate any uneven spots and smooth sharp edges.
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2
Use scissors or a paper trimmer to cut four 2- by 2-inch squares of decorative paper featuring a subtle striped or plaid design. Affix the squares to four sides of the wood block with double-sided tape.
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Stick a letter sticker in a bold, legible font to the center of one of the squares of decorative paper. Add a sticker of an object that starts with that letter to an adjacent square of patterned paper. If you use a letter "A" sticker, for instance, add a sticker of an alligator, apple or astronaut to the second side of the block.
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Place a bold number sticker on the third square of decorative paper. Adorn the fourth square of paper with tiny stickers that represent the number sticker. If the block has a number 8 sticker, for example, add eight ladybug stickers to the fourth side of the block.
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Add a 2- by 2-inch piece of fabric to the fifth side of the block to help the child discover textures such as bumpy, soft, smooth, shiny or furry. Cut the swatch with pinking shears to keep the fabric from unraveling, and affix it to the block with double-sided tape.
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Affix a 2- by 2-inch piece of colored card stock to the block's sixth side with double-sided tape. Reinforce the knowledge of basic colors by using shades of red, yellow, blue, green, orange, brown, black and white, for example.
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Make the altered wooden blocks more durable by brushing the sides covered with paper and stickers with a light layer of decoupage glaze. If you're creating the blocks as a gift, package them with replacement swatches of the fabric, in case that side begins to show wear and tear.
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Tips & Warnings
Instead of buying a large amount of fabric to create a 2- by 2-inch square for each embellished toy block, sift through the bins of quilting fabric or remnants at a craft store or even ask the manager of a sewing shop if she has any scraps left over from workshops or demonstrations that you can have for free.
If you'd rather not cover the decorated wood blocks with embellishments like fabric, letter or number stickers, simply cover the six sides with decorative paper that coordinates with your child's room, paper with school-inspired designs for a teacher gift or pastel-colored card stock for a baby shower present.
