“EAT ME” shelf

Step 1
Start by gluing the four 1.8m lengths of pine together to form two pairs. I used wood glue for this and clamped them tight and left them overnight. If you don’t have clamps, placing heavy items on them, such as stacks of books, should also work.

Step 2
Cut the glued wood to make your letters. I found it helpful to print out my letters from the computer and take measurements from these for the different lengths required. Make sure that your finished letters will all be the same height (mine are 25cm tall). Sand any rough bits smooth.

Step 3
Use a small microfiber roller to apply one coat of Resene Quick Dry to the letter pieces. When this is dry, give it a light sand with a fine sandpaper.

Step 4
Paint your letters, again using a small microfiber roller. I painted the word “Eat” in Resene Blackberry and the word “Me” in Resene Lemon Ginger.

Step 5
Glue your letters together. I found it best to glue these in place on to the shelves rather than gluing the letters independently and then gluing them to the shelves. For the shelves I used three lengths of 1.2m pine wood (180mm wide by 18mm thick). I primed them with Resene Quick Dry, gave them a light sand, and then painted them with two coats of Resene Half Rice Cake. I also used a jig saw to cut notches out of the ends for the upright supports.

Step 6
Once I had glued everything in place, I left this overnight to dry. The next day I screwed the letters to the shelves, buy either screwing in from underneath a shelf or at an angle from the back. To finish, I primed four lengths of 30mm x 10mm pine trim with Resene Quick Dry, gave it a light sand and then painted it with two coats of Resene Half Rice Cake. I then inserted these into the notches on the shelves that I had made earlier and then screwed these in place with black screws.