Foam Letter Wall Art: The Spacing Trick for $6
A paper spacing template is the difference between a name that reads like a boutique sign and one that drifts crooked across the wall
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Foam letters from the dollar store look cheap the second they're glued up unevenly, and eyeballing letter spacing is exactly how that happens — your brain compensates for crooked placement as you go, so the last letter always ends up jammed or floating. The fix is tracing a paper spacing template first: lay your letters flat, trace their outlines with consistent gaps between them, then use that traced strip as your mounting guide on the wall. That one step removes the guesswork entirely, so every letter lands level and evenly spaced no matter how steady your hand is.
What You'll Need
- Foam letters, dollar store, $1 per letter
- Craft paint, 2-3 colors, $1.25 each
- Metallic paint pen, for edges/accents, $1.25
- Roll of butcher paper, for the spacing template, $1
- Command strips, small size, $1.25 pack
- Small foam brush, $1
- Pencil and level, from your junk drawer, free
How to Build It
- Lay out the foam letters flat on the butcher paper in your chosen word, leaving even thumb-width gaps between each one.
- Trace around every letter's outline directly onto the paper, then mark small tick lines where each letter's edges fall.
- Paint each letter separately using two coats of craft paint, letting each coat dry fully before adding the second so brush strokes don't show.
- Accent the edges of each letter with the metallic paint pen for a finished, non-plastic look once the base coat is fully dry.
- Cut your traced paper template down to a strip and tape it to the wall using a level to keep it perfectly horizontal.
- Mark through the template at each letter's top-center point with a pencil dot, then remove the paper.
- Attach a Command strip to the back of each letter, lining up its top edge with the corresponding pencil dot on the wall.
- Press each letter firmly for 30 seconds per Command strip instructions to lock the bond before letting go.
Skip pure white and dollar-store primary colors — mix a tiny bit of black into any craft paint color to dust it down to a muted, designer-shop tone that reads as intentional instead of plastic-bright.
