Kim's Blog: DIY Monogram Letter

Anyone who has been on Pinterest knows how how many ideas are out there for DIY craft projects. Many of us have hundreds of ideas pinned, and the thought of completing them is exhausting! For myself and a few of the women I work with, completing a DIY project became a reality last night at our first Suburban Crafter (or project posse) party.

After spending countless hours searching for and sharing ideas via Pinterest, my coworkers and I decided we should get together once a month and actually make something we found! For our first party, we decided to make decorative monogram letters. Everyone was responsible for bringing out their own letter and whatever supplies they wanted to decorate with. Once we got settled with our food and wine, the crafting began!

My Inspiration

We all had different ideas on how to decorate our letters. Buttons, twine, book pages, yarn and flowers were among some of our choices. I decided to go with a twine covered letter, embellished with flowers and hung by ribbon. My inspiration came from a letter I saw on Pinterest. To create a hanging monogram letter you will need the following supplies, all of which can be purchased at your local craft store:

Scissors

Hot Glue

Twine

Wooden or cardboard letter

2 yards of ribbon

Flower embellishments

To begin, I glued two 1 yard strips of ribbon to the back of the letter. Once the project is complete, these two strips will be tied together in a bow, like in the inspiration photo above. For now, I suggest leaving them untied.

Next, I began wrapping my letter vertically with twine. Start by gluing the end of the twine to the back of the letter and then wrapping the twine around, securing it with glue every few wraps or when necessary to prevent it from slipping. This layer doesn't have to be perfect because we will wrap it horizontally in the next step.

As I was wrapping, I realized I would not be able wrap the entire letter evenly without stopping and re-starting to cover the areas in one smooth layer. This is OK, just be sure to secure the starting and ending parts of the twine to the back of the letter so no one will notice when the letter is complete.

Once you get the letter entirely wrapped vertically, begin wrapping in the other direction. This is the final layer, so take care to make sure it is evenly and perfectly covered. Don't be afraid to use too much hot glue to secure the twine on the back of the letter.

Wrapping the Letter

Once your letter is entirely wrapped and you are satisfied with the results, you need to decide where to add embellishments. I used paper flowers from the scrapbook section of the craft store for mine but be creative as there are many options. I suggest laying out your embellishments before you glue them so that you are sure they are exactly where you want them. Once they are in place secure them with hot glue. Tie the two pieces of ribbon together in a bow and trim the excess.