Bookends
After seeing some bookends made from wood at a farmer's market saying "RE-AD" I convinced myself not to purchase them and to make them myself. I needed bookends for my cookbooks, so I went with "CO-OK". At the time I had no jigsaw and couldn't justify purchasing all that wood for four simple letters and frankly this ended up being much easier than trying to make this from wood (unless you're a natural carpenter)...
This site uses dixie cups as spacers but i used egg cartons instead resulting in thinner letters. To add weight I simply put rocks in the egg carton space in at the bottom half of the letters before paper-macheing. If I do this again, I would prefer thicker letters (two layers of egg cartons) to add more weight. I didn't use acrylic gesso/gel medium as that site does, I simply made paper mache "glue" out of flour and water; this natural glue does take more time as you must allow each layer to dry completely to ensure your project won't start to mold, and use a thick layer of paint to seal letters to ensure no moisture gets inside. For a less cheap alternative (but cheaper than gel medium), simply use white glue to paper mache.
faux-wood Monogram Letters
Identical process as the bookends project above, simply minus the addition of weight. My partner and I chose a movie theme for our letters (Star Wars and Breakfast at Tiffany's respectively) but you could also use concert ticket stubs, photos, or other paper items you tend to keep piled up on your desk or stuffed in a shoebox to create a memory piece instead of creating clutter. As these are incredibly light-weight, simply glue small piece of string on the back to hang on a hook, nail, or screw.
Happy crafting!