This was a project inspired by yet another delightful post I discovered over on Pinterest. I am beginning to wonder how I ever lived without it.
This crafty lady made a beautiful set of alphabet rocks using embossing powder and a heat tool and they look just gorgeous.
I really wanted to make some for the boy, without having to spend a fortune on kit, so I decided to make some myself using plain old acrylics.
First a local landscapers very kindly let me raid their pebble selection for free but if you live near the coast you could just head on down to the beach to collect some.
Once I had washed them and allowed them to dry it was time to start painting.
First I painted an upper case letter using acrylic paints on one side of each pebble for each letter of the alphabet. I also did a few spares so that when W is a bit bigger we can practice spelling his name and simple words like mum and dad.
Once these had dried I then used a thinner brush to outline them so that they stood out a bit more. My brush however was a bit tatty and as such these are a bit scruffy. The lady in our local craft shop has since told me about some wonderful pens you could use for this instead so I may have to investigate this. Failing that, just use a decent/new thin brush.
I left these to dry overnight. The following day I added a lower case letter to the opposite side, again outlining when dry enough and again allowed them to dry over night.
I was feeling pretty pleased by now but was not sure how long this paint would last so finally decided to coat them with varnish as well. This took four sessions in total, coating each side and allowing to dry in-between, before applying a second coat to each side, again allowing to dry in-between.
The boy loves them. We are not quite at the learning letters stage yet but I love that he enjoys playing with them and is becoming more familiar with them. I really think they will come in useful over the coming year.
Finally I made a little, colourful bag to keep them all in and it would appear the best fun to be had is by tipping them all out and putting them back in again repeatedly!
I will post instructions on how to make the bag later this week. It honestly only took a few minutes.
So there you have it…the alphabet rocks with alphabet rocks!
This set was a little scruffy but I am planning to make some more sets soon which will be available for purchase via my Etsy store in the coming months. I think they would make a lovely gift for little ones, nephews and nieces etc. Stay tuned and I will post the link here as soon as they are available.
Your alphabet rocks turned out adorable! Love the colors you picked. And that bag you made is amazing. Wish I could make something like that. I feel so honored that my project inspired you. Thanks for sharing!
Oh thank you, and thank you so much for stopping by and commenting. The bag is super easy and will be posting instructions later this week if you wanted to make one 🙂
These are so cute!!! I’ve made rock animal before for the kids but never anything like this – really cool !
Thank you. He has had a lot of fun with them so far. I think they will come in handy 🙂
Visiting from Tuesday Tots. My Family-Focused Monday hop is live now and I would love to see one of your awesome posts linked up @ http://www.mondaykidcorner.blogspot.com.
Have a wonderful week.
Thank you. I have linked up but was unable to comment as there was no name/URL option. I would love to join your pinterest board. ID is jbmumofone 🙂
Love the idea of these! How creative! I pinned to my Crafts board; thanks for sharing :o) Have an awesome night!
Thanks ever so much!
This is such a fun idea! I love it and I know my boys will too 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing this idea you found with us 🙂 Krista @ A Handful of Everything
Am glad that you like it Krista and thanks so much for popping by 🙂
These are gorgeous! I’m having such a obsession painted rocks lately!
Thank You for stopping by Pin It Tuesday!
Remember to sign up for a reminder for next week and check back to see if you were featured!
powerfulmothering.com
I have just seen some lovely number ones. May have to make these too!
I LOVE this! Thanks so much for linking up to Tuesday Tots last week. I’m featuring this post on my round up of diy family games. http://www.oneperfectdayblog.net/2013/06/04/fun-and-simple-diy-games-for-kids/
Thanks ever so much! Am delighted 🙂
I love these pebbles, does any sort of paint work?
I have pinned to my farm crafts board to have a go with pebbles from our river.
Brilliant, let me know how you get on. Have not tried other paints so not too sure but you can get acrylic pens I think which sound great.
I love them, will be pinning them to the Lilypad Pinterest board!!
Thanks Donna and thanks for joining in with the pin it party 🙂
Great idea. I have some stones, I need to do something with, I might have to have a go at this.
They are very simple but a lot of fun 🙂
They are very cute, and I love the little bag you made.
Thanks for the pin-it party too 🙂 I am emmavanstone on Pinterest.
Thanks Emma, I am now following on pinterest 🙂
I think yours turned out cute!
Stopping in to pin this from the Fairy and the Frog!
Have a great week!
Thanks One Mommy and for joining in with the Pin it Party 🙂
This is a great idea. Ideal for when littlies are just starting to learn letters. Will definitely be pinning this on to my ‘tasks to attempt at some point in the future’ board!!
Thanks Jess, and thanks for joining in with the Pin It Party 🙂
These are so much fun!
Thanks Sarah 🙂
These are lovely – what fun. Have pinned – http://pinterest.com/mumsmakelists/boards/ – Alice x
Thanks Alice, am following on pinterest 🙂
Great idea – I pinned!
Thanks Eric, have pinned your binoculars too. Love them!
I found you post via the Monday Pin it party.
I’ve made some alphabet rocks for use in my classroom but they weren’t as fancy as these ones (think black Sharpie, pile of small river stones and ten minutes). Kids still enjoyed using them though :). We used them to match with a printed alphabet both lower case (same as the rocks) and then to the upper case letters for some one to one correspondence.
Sorry, forgot to post my Pinterest link too
http://pinterest.com/nicholehalliday
Very cool idea! i love it! i might try and do it with chestnuts!
Cute idea! I really like that you put the lowercase letter on the opposite side, too. I’ll be pinning this! Visiting from the Monday Pin-it party. 🙂
I love travelling, as such occasionally I manage to get away from a hustle of the city by driving to my village on the weekends. For long journeys or vacation I go along with the kids, but they are small ones and sometimes the trips cause me difficulties, since they get bored and cry. Although it seems to me that I have recently found a way to occupy them. A buddy gave me an idea for an educational application for children, which is called Cartoontist and surprisingly my children which are 4 and 5 years old respectively, are playing all the time while traveling. I would recommend it to parents who have small children and the trip by by car causes them many problems.
Let me give you the link and check it yourself what is cool about this application
http://goo.gl/mDpWl7 http://kidsareawsome.com/?p=38
I’m loving your alphabet rocks!!!