Mounting an alphabet is much easier than most people think. The important thing is to make sure all of the blocks are identical and that the letters are the same distance from the edge. That way when you want to stamp a word you can make a faint pencil line on your card stock, stamp your letters and they will all line up. Then you just erase the pencil line. Let's start by talking about the blocks. Unless you have a real handy guy that is an expert in woodworking, it really is not a good idea to try to cut them yourself. I have found that you can buy blocks in the wood crafting section at Michaels, but I am sure almost any craft store will have them. They are available in 1/2", 3/4" and 1", perfect for an alphabet. If you want your alphabet to be cushioned glue them to the cushion and cut them out. My stamps are deeply etched so you really don't have to do this. If you plan to mount the tag-a-bet, use an exacto knife as they are very close together.

To begin spray your blocks with an acrylic sealer, let dry, turn them over after dry and spray the bottom too. That way the ink will not soak into the wood and they will stay nicer looking. Once you have them sealed, put some double-sided tape on the back of a letter, adhere it to block of acrylic or similar and stamp each letter on top of a block with permanent ink. Let that dry well and then spray it with the acrylic sealer again (see pic. 1).

Line all your blocks up along something with an edge. I have a shelf on my stamping desk but you could just use a shoe box lid. See pic. 2. Make sure all your letters are facing down and that the bottom of each letter is against the same edge. I faced mine with the bottom of each letter against the side of the shelf. Hold your ruler along the blocks and make a pencil line. It will come out the same on each block, again see pic. 2. Now rotate each block clockwise and make another pencil line. Your block should look like pic. 3 now.

It is important to use contact cement not rubber cement (the type you get at the hardware store). Just ask for the kind they use to glue on Formica counters. Paint a small section in the middle of your block with the contact cement (see pic.4) and also paint the bottom of the first letter. Once it has tacked up stick a strait pin through the rubber at the bottom corner of each side of the letter to be mounted but not on the letter itself, again see pic 4. Line the pins up with the pencil lines you made on the block and press the rubber down (see pic. 5). Do this with each letter. I used the R for the example because the bottom of the R on this alphabet should hang down over the line (see pic. 6). In this case place your pins through the rubber so that your letter will sit straight on the line with the tail hanging over. As long as your letter sits straight on the line and starts where the lines cross it will stamp correctly.

Now you will need a way to store your alphabet so lets make a plastic box.

Make sure you have an even amount of blocks even if some are empty as you see in pic. 7. I used clear shrink plastic for this box. Use your ruler and draw lines around your blocks with a permanent marker. Score the lines and cut out the corners as you see me doing in pic. 7. Fold the corners up and tape. I used a pretty foil tape but any tape will do as you see in the finished box (pic. 8). If you want a lid, trace the bottom of the box you just made onto another piece of plastic and follow the same directions. This will make the top slightly bigger and it should slide down over the top.