As I was decorating my daughter’s new tween room, I was on the hunt for a giant letter to go above her bed. She made a Pinterest board of ideas and that was one of the things that she wanted. I didn’t find anything that I liked, so I decided to come up with a giant letter made out of a pool noodle. We love how it turned out and couldn’t believe how easy it was to put together!
How do you make a letter out of a pool noodle? First, cut your pool noodle to the length that you need for your giant letter. Next, glue the end of a spool of yarn to the end of the pool noodle. Wrap the yarn tightly around the pool noodle until you reach the end. Glue the end of the yarn with a hot glue gun. Next, Attach the wrapped pool noodle pieces together with hot glue. To hang the pool noodle, hot glue some thumbtacks to the back.
How To Make Letters Out Of Pool Noodles
Large letters can be quite pricy and if you are using them to decorate a child’s room, chances are, you probably don’t want to spend a lot of money on wall decor. If you’ve been around my blog for any length of time, you may have seen that I made a cane webbing letter for my son’s room, but I wanted to try something different for this space.
I didn’t care for any of the letters at the craft store and the large ones were expensive, so I decided to try to create a giant letter out of a pool noodle. All you need is a pool noodle, a hot glue gun and some yarn. It couldn’t be easier and cost less than $10! Since pool noodles are flexible, you could create a variety of letters. You could even do an entire name or word on a wall!
Pool Noodle Decor
Pool noodles are so versatile for crafting, believe it or not! There are so many great reasons to use them, including the fact that they are very inexpensive (usually under $2), easy to find, lightweight and easy to cut. Since they are also flexible, you can shape them to do many different things.
Cutting pool noodles is so easy if you do it with a serrated knife. Since they are easy to write on, just grab a sharpie and mark your cut line, then cut along the mark with a serrated kitchen knife. It can be a little messy, so just lay down some newspaper or a drop cloth to catch the scraps.
Another reason why pool noodles are great for decor, is that they are super lightweight. You can easily hang them on the wall without needing to worry about finding studs or using wall anchors (I have the worst luck with wall anchors!).
I will be the first to admit that a pool noodle by itself is quite ugly. Thankfully, they are easy to cover! All you need is a trusty hot glue gun to wrap them in yarn or fabric.
Where to Find Pool Noodles For Pool Noodle DIY Projects
We were lucky enough to make the pool noodle letter in the middle of summer, so pool noodles were easy to find. I picked up ours at Target for under $2. You can also find them at Walmart ore. I have even seem them at Dollar Tree in the summer!
If you are searching for pool noodles in the winter, you can try Amazon or a pool supply store.
Materials Needed To Make a Letter Out Of A Pool Noodle
For this pool noodle decor craft, you will need:
- Pool Noodle
- Hot Glue Gun
- Yarn
- Thumbtacks
- Serrated Knife
Instructions For How To Make Letters Out Of Pool Noodles
1. First, cut your pool noodle to the length that you need for your giant letter.
Use a serrated knife to easily cut your pool noodle. Since I was doing the letter “L”, I only needed 2 pieces, but depending on your letter, you may need more than that. You also may need more than one pool noodle.
2. Next, glue the end of a spool of yarn to the end of the pool noodle.
3. Wrap the yarn tightly around the pool noodle until you reach the end.
It works best if you hold the noodle in one hand and the yarn in the other. Just keep twisting the pool noodle until it is fully covered in yarn. Keep pushing the yarn together to prevent any gaps or spaces.
4. Glue the end of the yarn with a hot glue gun.
5. Attach the wrapped pool noodle pieces together with hot glue.
Hold in place until they are secure. If you feel like you need to, you could add some super glue.
6. Cover the ends of the pool noodles by wrapping yarn in a spiral direction, glueing it down every few inches.
Add a bunch of glue to the center to cover the hole if you want. Or you could put a little piece of felt on top of the hole and glue your yarn on top of that.
7. To hang the pool noodle, hot glue some thumbtacks to the back.
Space them out every few inches all along the entire pool noodle.
8. To hang, make holes in the wall with a thumbtack and then push the letters into the pre-made holes.
After a lot of trial and error, I found that this was the best way to hang the letter in a descreet way!
We are so pleased with how our giant pool noodle letter turned out. It’s just what my daughter had pictured and I’m happy that I was able to make it happen for her!
Make sure you check out all of my posts for how I completely re-decorated my daughter’s tween room with tons of easy DIY projects. My personal favorite are the large DIY Framed Horse Prints!
But I think this pool noodle letter comes in a close second!
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