# Painting letters on a toybox



## secutanudu (Dec 2, 2011)

I am planning to build a toybox for my friends' son. I want to put his name across the front, but since he has a long name, it is kind of pricey to buy the wood letters, and I'm not sure if I posses the skills to cut them out myself.

The box will be made out of plywood. The box will be blue, the letters white.

So my plan would be to prime, then paint the whole box blue, then use stencils to add the white letters. Then I'd put some sort of sealant over the whole box.

1. Would this method hold up?
2. What type of paint is recommended for this? Any particular sheen (flat, gloss?) if I plan to poly over it?
3. Can I just use a polyurethane over the paint? Or is something else recommended?

Thanks!


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## paulw2 (Jan 6, 2012)

Any type of paint will hold up. Definitely put a sealant over the entire thing when you are finished, especially since it is for a child. If you don't want to spend the money on wood letters, you could use a lot of things to make it creative. However, you can even save money on stencils by simply printing the letters in a work document and cutting them out and using them as stencils. You can find pertty affordable wood letters at places like Walmart, instead of going to a craft or wood store, which is normally more expensive.


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## secutanudu (Dec 2, 2011)

Thanks. Any recommendations for a finish to use over whichever paint I decide on (which will probably just be an indoor latex paint).

Water-based poly? Acrylic? Something else?


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## MrsN (Sep 29, 2008)

if you use regular poly over white paint you will have yellow letters. My students call it "snot white". So use water based poly or a clear acrylic.


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## BobAtl (Jan 10, 2011)

Thanks for this topic, Andrew, and to others for your input. I'm planning to make a Hello Kitty bed for my great niece and had the same concerns about what finish to use over the painted bed. Looks like you've answered my question.


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## secutanudu (Dec 2, 2011)

Glad it helped you, Bob. The more I think about it, the more I thiink painted-on letters would look cheap. I think I'll either attempt to cut my won letters or just splurge for the wood ones. I think poly-acrylic finish over latex paint is the way I'll go.


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## MrsN (Sep 29, 2008)

I was giving this some more thought. If you use a router to "carve" the letters you get a different look. might add a bit of dimention.


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## secutanudu (Dec 2, 2011)

That would be really cool…but I don't think I have the skills to do that successfully…


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## huntter2022 (Mar 29, 2011)

Could Woodburn the letters in


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## secutanudu (Dec 2, 2011)

I did find wood letters for only $3 each, so I went with that, despite the 8-letter name!


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