.. void kiyoshis_font (GtkWidget *widget) { GtkStyle *style; style = gtk_widget_get_style(widget); style->font_desc = pango_font_description_from_string("fixed 20"); /* or whatever font and size you want */ gtk_widget_set_style(widget, style); } .. int main (argc, char *argv[]) { GtkWidget *window, *label, *button; gtk_init(&argc, &argv); .. label = gtk_label_new(""); kiyoshis_font(label); gtk_label_set_text("this is my label"); .. /* same thing for the button */ i couldn't find anything better for 2.0 in the api, but in 1.2 there's a function called gtk_widget_set_default_style() that i think might do the trick for you if you're using 1.2 . (someone correct me if i'm wrong because i just read about it today and haven't used it in any code) ~sky