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Materials A few sheets of newspaper Method Use the sheets of newspaper to cover the surface you will be working on. Take your sandpaper and sand your block of wood all over and around, until it's nice and smooth. If you want your Plaque to be coloured, now is the time to apply the wood stain or paint, in the colour of your choice, leave the back of the block unpainted until the rest of it has dried (usually overnight), then turn the block over and paint the back, once again leaving it to dry thoroughly. Your block should now be looking something like this,
Now take 12 of your matchsticks and lay them out on your block in 2's spaced at equal distances from each other like this and keeping both the tops and bottoms of the matchsticks in line, leaving just a little space (about 1/2") at each end of the block. These will act as your guides / markers
When you are happy with the way they are placed, apply craft glue to the matchsticks and secure them firmly to the block. Take a further 6 matchsticks, cut 4 of these to be all the same length 3/8" shorter than their original size, cut the other 2 matchsticks to be 5/8" shorter than their original size. We are going to use these to make the "J". Take the 2 shortest matchsticks first, apply craft glue along one edge of each and fix next to your first marker keeping the tops in line with each other and the marker, then do the same with the 4 longer matchsticks so it looks like this; you should now be able to see a "J" on the block.
Take 4 more of your matchsticks and cut them in half, we are going to use these to make the 2 letters "S" which you can see below, between the 3rd and 4th marker and 5th and 6th marker. You need to turn these horizontally using 2 pieces for the top and 2 pieces for the bottom on each "S" place your matchsticks according to the picture below, you may need to trim these down further, just use your eye to judge, when you are pleased with what you see, apply your craft glue and secure your matchsticks to your block.
Now Take 2 more of your matchsticks, once again cut them in half and follow the steps we used to make the "S" only this time you will be using them to make the "E" as shown in the image below, between the 2nd and 3rd markers.
Now we just have the "U" to make. Take your last 2 matchsticks and cut them 3/8" shorter than their original size, apply your craft glue and keeping them in line with the tops of your markers apply them centrally between the 4th and 5th markers, your plaque should now look like this;
and you are almost done. Check the alignment of your matchsticks and if you are happy that they are all nice and straight you can go and take a break now, until your glue has set. Once your glue is set, turn your plaque over and apply your 2 small picture hangers as shown below,
you can either tap these on with those small pins that come with them or you can use the craft glue. When your plaque is dry, turn it back over, right side up and apply a coat or two (depending on your own taste) of clear varnish all over, if applying more than one coat, allow to dry thoroughly in between. Ok, your done now and once your Plaque is completely dry (usually overnight) it is ready to hang on your wall.
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