Hey there, can you introduce yourself?

Hello! My name is Krista Aasen and I'm a self-declared "housie". That just means that I love all things house and home related: crafting, decorating, DIY projects, and organizing. I share all kinds of home related projects on my blog, The Happy Housie, and from this grew the opportunity to create and write a book on one of my favourite DIY craft projects: unique ways to decorate wooden letters!

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Tell us a bit about the book?

This book is full of 35 completely different ways to craft and decorate standard wooden letters that you can pick up at your local craft shop or even order online. From coastal and beachy to rustic and farmhouse; cute and cheery, pretty and glam, to special paint effects; there are DIY design ideas to suit everyone!

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What was the inspiration behind it?

I initially began decorating with wooden letters a few years ago and some of my first DIY/craft projects involved different ways to decorate and style your home with wooden letters. Our living room bookshelves always feature several letter A's (for our last name) done in different styles that work with our overall beachy and airy decor. I've also used the first initial for children's names to decorate wooden letters for my boys' bedroom decor as well as to gift to friends who have new babies and/or gift to my children's friends for birthdays.

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Which is your favourite project?

That is such a tough question because I truly love so many of the different designs I created for this book. I definitely adore the driftwood letter F that I created for my son's surf style bedroom makeover. I also love the fresh and graphic pop that simple materials like washi tape and paper straws provide when crafted onto a wooden letter. And I must say that the succulent letters I've created are some of my favourite since they have such amazing texture. The faux succulents, themselves, are like little works of art and they are stunning when grouped together to decorate a wooden letter.

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What is your craft space like?

I have a small but cute and cheery craft room space in our home, but I spent most of my time creating and crafting the projects for this book at our kitchen counter. We have a large peninsula area that is flooded with natural light and I enjoyed working on the white background of our countertops. I also love writing at my dining room table as it views out to the lake that we live on. Both the kitchen and dining room are flooded with the maximum amount of natural light that we get in our home and I find that bright, airy rooms help me feel at my most creative and focused.

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Have you always been creative?

I've always had an affinity for crafting and decorating and even as a child would spend hours colouring, crafting, decorating, and organizing my room. I also grew up in a home that was under continuous renovation, so the desire to tackle large scale DIY and decorating projects became part of who I am.

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When did you first start crafting?

My mother was a trained artist who has moved to a small community for my father's job, so she never had the opportunity to work in an art related field. My childhood was full of hours of crafting and playing with creative mediums such as play dough and paint, so I can't remember the first project I ever made. I do clearly recall being a perfectionist as a child, though, and struggling with my work not measuring up to my own invisible standards.

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Who are your crafty heroes?

When I first began to embrace my creativity and desire to craft and decorate I was influenced by popular media personalities at the time such as Martha Stewart and Debbie Travis. I have also long been a huge fan of the Canadian designer, Sarah Richardson, and have followed her career since before she had her own show(s). There are many popular craft bloggers that I love to follow, some of whom I've even had the opportunity to meet at conferences.

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Where do you find inspiration?

I read blogs, magazines, peruse Pinterest and Instagram, and pay attention to what is popular in fashion and home decor. All of these influences work together to create inspiration for my projects; both small and large.

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What's next for you?

I will continue to express my creativity through the projects that I create and share on my blog, both large and small. We have recently sold our home and are moving into a new house which will provide a brand new space to recreate and decorate with my DIY and crafted projects. I also love the creativity that the holidays bring as I work to think of and share unique and creative seasonal projects with my readers. I'd love to write a book one day focused on seasonal DIYs and crafts.

Krista Aasen of The Happy Housie blog presents a collection of 35 creative projects that can brighten up the walls of any house.Decorating wood letters is a fun and simple project for the home, from a child's name in a bedroom to an uplifting message above the mantel. But how do you achieve the pin-worthy results of the stylists you see online? Enter Krista Aasen of The Happy Housie blog, whose crafting experiments with wood letters have been shared hundreds of thousands of times. In Creative Wood Letters, Aasen reveals unique ideas and techniques to craft beautifully decorated letters inspired by everything from nature to art using maps, vintage book pages, photo transfer, paper flowers, washi tape, succulents, driftwood, metallic paints, lights, and more. With a wide variety of styles from rustic and beachy to cute and sparkly, this book's wood letters are perfect for gracing the walls, shelves, and nooks of kitchens, bedrooms, and beyond.