Now the blocks were ready to be painted. I have a large growing stash of latex paint which I picked 3 colors that coordinated. A dark brown, white and a tan-ish grey, I promise they work. Once I painted them I gave them a little sanding to give them that vintage look, just around the edges.
Finally I added the letters, then used I believe it was the red label mod podge. I noticed there was a bit of tackiness so I finished the blocks with a high-gloss sealer around the edges to get rid of that. And the finished product is below. Since we ended up using a larger piece of wood than I intended these are a bit wobbly when stacked up. However, I believe she is just having them lined up along their mantle instead which is also a great idea. I hope to do more gifts like this in the future, it was very fun.
