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monogram art {tutorial}

    Remember this picture from a few days ago?

    image

    I put together a tutorial for how I made it. 

    I spent this morning with my friend Rae who is pregnant with No.4. I think my favorite thing to talk about with pregnant women is what they are going to name the baby. I’m sure it gets old for my poor friends, but I never grow tired of it. I love talking baby names. I sort of wish I could have more kids just so I could name them. Actually, I don’t. I take that back.

    Anyway : we were talking about her baby names {both of which I ADORE}. She is one of those crazy ladies who doesn’t find out what she is having beforehand {which is actually really quite fun} but I decided to make this monogram art for the new baby’s room, should he come out a boy. If she comes out a girl, I will tear it all apart and girlify it. But I like the idea for a baby’s room – it is not totally babyish, but still sentimental and a nice keepsake.

    Geesh, I’m longwinded today.

    So, here is the finished project:

    monogram art

    And here’s what you’ll need to make one of your own:

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    :: picture frame {this one is 5 x 7 with a 4 x 6 opening}

    :: linen {or other fabric for background}

    :: book page for monogram

    :: metal book plate {found in the scrapbook section of most craft stores}

    :: stamps and ink pad for adding birthdate, year, etc.

    :: glue gun, scissors

    STEP ONE: cover back of frame with fabric

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    Just cut the fabric slightly larger than the back and wrap snugly around the back. Secure with hot glue.

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    STEP TWO: create your monogram

    I designed mine in Illustrator and printed directly on to the book page {temporarily attached to a standard piece of paper so it would run through the printer}.

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    You could just as easily free hand a letter, trace a stencil, die-cut it or use the transfer method I used to write on my chalkboard wall in the office.

    STEP THREE: cut out letters

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    This took some patience on my part and if I were to do it again I would have mirror-imaged the letters when I printed them so that you wouldn’t see the outline. But I don’t think the baby will mind.

    STEP FOUR: attach the monogram

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    Place the letters where you want them, then hot glue. This was a little tricky for the teensy letters.

    STEP FIVE: attach the metal book plate

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    Again, just use hot glue.

    STEP SIX: add a label with the birthdate, anniversary, established date, etc.

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    Let me talk for just a second about these stamps. I made them. Well, sort of. Last summer when I needed number stamps to price items for the summer boutique I searched and searched for a nice set of number stamps. With a dollar sign. Not too big, not too small. You would think that would be easy to find, but it was not. So I found these clear stamps at Michaels {Martha Stewart brand, but I can’t find them online} along with some dowels and glued them on to create a stamp. Not pretty, but does the trick. If you would rather just buy stamps, these ones are great and so are these. And here is a selection of alphabet stamps too.

    And here it is, ready to adorn the baby boy’s room {if he, in fact, is a baby boy}.

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    You can be so creative with this one – use a single monogram, an entire name, a favorite shape or symbol. A patterned fabric would be cute and making a banner for the date would be fun if you can’t find a bookplate. I think it makes a wonderful wedding gift for a newly established family or a sweet baby gift.

    I hope you have fun with it!

    47 thoughts on “monogram art {tutorial}”

    1. WOW! So simple and cheap to make but looks so expensive. This could be addictive ;) Love the blog, thank you for sharing xx

    2. P.S. I just discovered your blog via House of Fifty, and am enamoured! I hope it is all right that I entered the giveaway as a newcomer. I am so looking forward to exploring all the wonderful ideas here. Thank you!

    3. Emily what store did you find the book plates at and how wide are they? I stopped at a Hobby Lobby today but the only ones I could find seemed too small. Thanks so much. rj

      1. I’m so sorry the bookplates are hard to find. I bought mine at least 5 years ago at a rubber stamp store locally {impress rubber stamps}. You could try searching on ebay or etsy to see if any are available. Hope that helps!

    4. What is illustrator? Sorry but I am new at this and do not have a clue as to how to do the letters. HELP!!! …. us first timers!!!

      1. Don’t feel bad … I should have explained better. I created my monogram using a design program called Adobe Illustrator. If you have Microsoft word you can do the same. I used Times New Roman at about 200pt font.

    5. Emily you are truly amazing. There is nothing you do that I don’t fall in love with. I just can’t wait to see each new post. I absolutely love this tutorial. We’ve been on vacation in Texas and I was able to use my son’s computer and check in and when I saw it was a monogram project I was in heaven. I have a few gifts that this would be perfect for. Thank you so much for explaining things perfectly. You are a gem! rj

    6. I am new to your site and absolutely love it!!! I hope this isn’t a stupid question, but what is Illustrator??? I would love to try this project out, can anyone help me?

    7. Would you mind indulging me with the name of the store where you found your book plates? I’ve been searching high and low and cannot find them anywhere. Thank you!

    8. Love this! I’m definitely going to be making 3 of these. One for each of my girls’ rooms and one for the hubs and I. I love that they will each be so different by using a different background and different font!

    9. Another lovely tutorial!! Thank you sooo much! I always look forward to them because they’re amazing pics, steps and of course the ideas are out of this world! Keep up the good work and I can’t wait to see more! :)
      Hugs!!
      Terrell

    10. Soooooooooooooo… if you like naming boys or girls… do you like helping people name their home business? I would like to find a name to market my saleable items.

      Thanks for the wonderful tutorial. It benefits so many!

    11. There is a spot in illustrator to just click outline and not fill. If you use Illustrator, it is the box with the line around it next to the one with the solid color {where you select the color}. Hope that makes sense :)

    12. Always love the projects and tutorials you share, in fact, finding your blog has finally got me enthused about re-doing my house. A couple of products from the scrapbook craft world that might have made adding those letters to the cloth and stamping the date are glue dots (they’re wonderfully sticky and don’t burn my fingers), and an acrylic block to mount your clear stamps. You can line everything up before stamping unless you have repeats, which of course you did.

    13. my husband’s family always does a couples name exchange for Christmas presents and this year we decided that we’d do handmade gifts. i was having a difficult time thinking of something that i could make to include the guys and this is perfect. thank you so much!

    14. raizel tziganka13@hotmail.com

      ummm Ive tried to figure out before how to get letters to print as outlines and not all filled in. How did you do that??

    15. First off, I absolutely adore your blog! You inspire me to no end. I love this project – I can’t wait to make my own version for my little guy’s room! Thanks for sharing your creativity on a daily basis!

    16. Emily,
      Thanks for the tutorial. I’m going to make one for my nephew due July 6th as well…just have to wait until they pick a name, but since I have to wait on the date, that’s ok:) I’ve done the “tape a smaller page to a normal page-run through the printer” routine before, but I really don’t like cutting them out. I use my cricut for big or small fonts that I like. I actually just finished NINE t-shirts using your tutorials…a mix of the applique technique & the cute little puff flower from the embellished “shoe” shirt.
      Thanks for all of your awesome ideas!!

    17. Love it! I’m definitely making this one for the nursery . . . I’ll just have to conceal it until our son’s arrival since we are keeping the name a secret.

    18. Had the worst day ever yesterday, well maybe not ever, but my car ended up in a ditch on it’s side. I’ve been a little down ever since so I think this is the perfect project to cheer me up! ;)
      A couple of questions – is that a font you used that we can buy or download? Or is that just something that comes with your illustrator program? Also, I clicked on your link to look at the chalk transfer and it reminded me that I’ve been wanting one of those chalk markers forever. Did you find yours in a store? I’ve only seen them online and never wanted to pay for shipping just for a silly marker :)
      Thanks Emily! I’ll let you know how it turns out!

    19. I LOVE THIS!!! I was just thinking this morning that this project would be a perfect gift as a monogram frame for my first nephew who is due on July 4th, and lo and behold, here it is!! Thank you so much for posting this tutorial. I am SO excited to try it!

    20. Thanks for the great tutorial. I know exactly what you mean about not being able to find just the right stamps when you need them. I have done some similar techniques to creat my own as well. Really cute initial frame. Thanks again.
      Looking forward to your graphics tutorials!!!

    21. This is adorable – as well as super customizable to many different decors and uses. I also wanted to say thanks for your openness in the Q & A section – I really appreciated reading all that you had to say!

    22. Serendipitous! I have been scouring the web for some cute monogram ideas and low and behold you create a tutorial on just the subject. wow, thanks!! Also, I know Rae from childhood and am now curious what the initials could stand for…something super cute I’m sure.

    23. I love that this is a gift that can be masculine or feminine. It is so hard to find gift ideas for men or boys and this is perfect. It would look great hanging in an office or den. Thanks so much for sharing!

    24. So cute! If she waits one more day, the baby can share my 3 year olds birthday! I never would’ve thought to send paper through the printer like that either, still want a Silhouette, but now no excuses!!

    25. I love this! You know what, as silly as this may sound, I never would have thought to attach special paper to regular paper and print out an image then use scissors! I guess I’m too caught up in the Cricut/Silhouette era. So simple and sensible! I’m going to try one of these. Thanks for the inspiration!
      Jen
      Scissors & Spatulas

    26. When I first saw this in your photos I loved it! I thought then I would love to make for a wedding gift,which we have several coming up! How happy I was to see your tutorial today…and I agree, you always explain so well in words and photos. Many thanks Emily!

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