Hey there, amazing teacher! So, your blank bulletin board is staring you down, huh? Don’t worry, the perfect solution is right here! You can make DIY bulletin board letters in as easy as 6 steps! It’s super affordable too– win, win!
Why Make Your Own Bulletin Board Letters?
The answer to this question is two-fold– time and money!
Time
It’s so time-consuming to have to drive to your nearest teacher supply store every time you want to create a new board or spend (what honestly turns into HOURS!) scouring the internet for the perfect design that matches what’s already in your head.
No teacher has time for that, am I right?
Money
Buying new bulletin board letters can also get PRICEY. The done-for-you letters might feel convenient, but they usually pull on your wallet strings hard and fast!
So the answer is simple, make your own BIG bulletin board letters to save both time and money and really have a finished product that you LOVE!
What You Need to DIY Bulletin Board Letters
Making your own bulletin board letters is really SO easy! You only need two things for this DIY project:
- Printer with black ink
- Paper of your choice (cardstock, colored paper, or scrapbook paper)
That’s it! Can you believe it? It’s so simple- you’ll never buy premade bulletin board letters again!
Ready to give it a try now? Let’s go!
6 Steps to DIY Bulletin Board Letters
- In just 6 easy steps you’ll feel like running up and down the hall while shouting from the rooftops to let all your best teacher friends know this amazing secret!
- Open PowerPoint on your computer
- Insert a text box and choose a chunky font
- Add letters
- Type just one or two letters in the box
- Change the text size so the letters fill the page.
*This will be different for some letters. For example, W is a very wide letter and L is very narrow— just experiment to see what fits!
- Formatting
Format your letters so they have “no text fill” and a black “text outline.” The letters will look like this on your screen:
- Duplicate your page so you can make more letters!
- Print!
- Print your letters on cardstock, colored paper, or scrapbook paper
*If using scrapbook paper, cut down the scrapbook paper to be 8.5 x 11 to fit into your printer.
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- Laminate and cut
- Laminate the pages for longer use and trim around the edges of the letters.
- Laminate and cut
- Optional: cut out the centers of your letters if you choose to.
Now you’re ready to hang your letters and enjoy your stunning DIY project!
A BONUS for You!
Since we wholeheartedly believe in creating a classroom kids love, here’s a FREE set of bulletin board letters that’s already ready for you to print! It includes CAPITAL and lowercase letters for A-Z.
Even More Big Letter Ideas
These free BIG letters are perfect to use with your kids! They will practice letter recognition, fine motor skills, and writing skills while staying engaged and having fun.
This set includes capital and lowercase letters with a starting dot on each letter to keep things easy for YOU and your students!
Seriously, did you expect that making your own DIY bulletin board letters would actually be THAT easy and inexpensive? You’re going to love having custom letters that beautifully fit your classroom decor!
38 Responses
Neat idea!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Karen
Thanks for stopping by my blog Karen! Have a great school year!
🙂 Emily
Can you use Google slides to make theletter??
Great Idea!!! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for stopping my blog Paula. I hope you find other ideas you like in the future!
🙂 Emily
What a clever idea with the scrapbook paper! I am so excited to try that out!! I'll be buying even more paper from Micheal's from now on I guess 🙂
Kayla
The Chalkboard Garden
I pretty much hoard scrapbook paper (I don't know why?!) so this is a perfect way to use it, and a reson to go buy more! I would love to see the letters you make Kayla!
🙂 Emily
Just found your website! Love the scrapbook paper idea, never even thought of that !! Tried to follow you on Instagram with your button on top and it says it is broken- Just wanted to let you know 🙂 Have a great back to school!! Lisa from http://allthingsspecialed.blogspot.com
Thank you! My instagram account was updated, by my link hasn't been changed yet. If you would like to follow me on instagram my updated usernam is polka.dots.please. Thanks again for stopping by my blog!
🙂 Emily
This is great!!!!
Nicki
Mrs. Thigpen's Kindergarten
Thank you Nicki! Have a great school year!
🙂 Emily
Omg I love everything!!! You are so talent and creative!!!
You are too sweet! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog– your feedback means a lot to me!
🙂 Emily
From Follow Me To First
Thank you so much for sharing your ideas! I had just bought (settled for) some letters the day before you posted this project. But now I know how to make my own! 🙂
This is a fantastic idea. I am a first year teacher and love collecting all these new ideas. By chance, do you know what size font you used? I see you got about six letters per page, but I can't begin to guess what size they are. Thanks!
Hi Meghann,
I wish I knew this tip as a new teacher! It's perfect for making exactly what you want without buying lots of extra letters you don't need! The size of the font really depends on which font you choose and how big you want the letters. I just tried different sizes and then kept checking the page view to see how big they would print. Best wishes for your first year teaching!
This is ingenius! Thanks for sharing! I'm so excited to try this out!!!
This is ingenius! Thanks for sharing! I'm so excited to try this out!!!
HI can you please give a step by step how to make the letters! I am stuck! How do you outline the fonts?
I'm stuck too!!!!
I used PowerPoint to make my letters. To outline the them, you type the letters you need. Then highlight the letters and left click on them. Select "Format Text Effects" and then "Text Outline." You can choose the outline color you want the line to be. Then select "Text Fill" and choose "no fill."
Love this. Thank you!
I used PowerPoint to make my letters. To outline the them, you type the letters you need. Then highlight the letters and left click on them. Select "Format Text Effects" and then "Text Outline." You can choose the outline color you want the line to be. Then select "Text Fill" and choose "no fill."
What is the line weight?
What is the font size? I would love to try this!
I love this idea! And I am obsessed with the chalkboard paper you used. Do you remember where you got it or what brand it is?
Is the letter outline powerpoint available for download somewhere?
Do you create a separate text box for each letter? I cannot fit letters up to the edge of the page as you have.
I love this idea!! Thank you so much for sharing! How do you outline in black and fill it with white?! I don't understand how you did that on Powerpoint. Please help!!
Would you be able to send this as a .pdf??
<3
I don't have that font–K G Second Chances. What else can I use to laminate the alphabet letters?
Is that what you did for your "This is Our HAPPY place" sign above the window? I love it and want to duplicate it!!
Hi Jessica,
I actually have that sign available in my TPT store. You can just print it and it’s ready to go. Thanks!
Thank you for sharing. Super idea!
Thank you so much Fran! I’d love to hear how your letters turn out!
Great idea Thanks you.
Thanks a lot!!!