Anthro Inspired Holiday Art

A few weeks ago I was shopping at Anthropologie and was SO inspired by the beautiful holiday displays! There was beautiful texture and it was all made from easy to find materials. I thought- “I can make my own version” and finally did! I always dreamed of being on the display team at Anthropologies so I figure this is as close as I’ll get ;). Here’s how I made my Anthro inspired holiday art. And here is the original that mine is based off of-

Side note, I just got back from a nice weekend trip. I was excited to do this project because I popped into a different Anthropologie and saw that locations version of these letters too! So I shopped for the pom poms and yarn and started making it yesterday. Here’s a close up too-

I was hoping 3 hours would be enough time to make them, but it took closer to 4 (which meant it was dark when it was done and I couldn’t photograph it the same day). I personally love to know how long to expect a project to take so hopefully that’s help to you too!

And here is the back of the Anthropologie version of the letters. There’s is much bigger and the front is made of wood.

how to create Anthro inspired holiday art

Let’s start with the video tutorial so you get an overview on what I did. Then, I’ll dive in with more details below:

If the video doesn’t work here, you can watch it on YouTube here. P.s. I’m trying to build that page up, so if you’d subscribe, I’d really appreciate that!

SUPPLIES

cardboard from cereal boxes
yarn in a few colors (I used ivory, pink, and mauve)
pom poms
paint- I used Beloved Pink
hot glue gun
Petal Pink Rit dye

step 1

Start by dying some of the pom poms a fun color. Since I’m going pink with my letters, I died some of the pom poms pink. I got extra hot water in a glass bowl, poured some dye in, and put the pom poms in. They took on the color quickly so I removed them after a minute of being in the dye.

After that, I rinsed the pom poms in cold water. Then I placed them on a paper towel to dry.

step 2

Next, cut out the letters. I quickly cut out the front and back of 2 cereal boxes. Then I put them in my Cricut to cut out the letters. Make sure to move the material setting on the Cricut to posterboad- I used the cardboard setting and it didn’t cut deep enough.

For the sides of the letters, I cut out 2″ rectanglular pieces of cardboard. Cut out more than this than you think you’ll need (if you’re like me, you’ll need more than you think).

Side note, if you can find wood letters that you’d like to make these out of, that’d save a ton of time and they’d be more sturdy. Second note, if you can cut out longer strips for the sides, do that. You’ll have less seams and it’ll look nicer.

step 3

And now, it’s time to paint the letters and sides. I used latex paint and had to do two coats. They might look like they’ll curl at first, but they ended up looking flat and sturdy once assembled.

step 4

Finally, it’s assembly time! For me, this was the trickiest part! I cut the side strip to size and then started in a corner of the letter to assemble it to the letter with hot glue. It worked best to add a piece of yarn to the top of the seam to help bind the two pieces.

After the sides and yarn was on, I used pom poms and more yarn to embellish them. Aka, the fun part!

To hang them, I decided to put them on top of art I already have in my living room. Ideally, these would hang with nails in the corners. I used command hooks and they somewhat work- I might have to come up with a better solution.

AFTER

Here they are hanging on the art in my living room! I think it’s an unexpected placement, but it sure is fun! My favorite part of this project is that it’s mostly used from recycled materials. If you have cereal boxes, paint, hot glue, and yarn at home, you can make this with things you already have laying around!

I also love that this project is so customizable. You can paint the letters any color and use any yarn you want to have it work for your decor. Honestly, I think you could make these for any holiday with different words too! These look so fun here- I love them! Ok- who’s going to make these this week? Let me know in the comments.