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Monday, March 7, 2011

Monograms, Ma'am

Originally posted 11/24/10

T minus one day to Turkey Day!  Is everybody ready?  I still have a ton to do, and my family comes into town today….I am so excited!  Today, I am actually not going to talk about Thanksgiving.  As promised, today I have more handmade holiday gift ideas.  I will show you a couple of different ways to jazz up ordinary things with monograms or initials.
A couple of weeks ago, I went to a girl’s weekend in Sonoma ( I think I mentioned that before).  We had the best time, as always.  We were celebrating my BFF’s birthday.  We stayed in a fancy hotel, and ate great food.  I brought some party favors for the birthday girl, and the rest of us, to enjoy.  And yes, I am freakishly tan…..
I brought each girl a bag, a wineglass, and a candle.  I got all of this at the Dollar Store and Wal-Mart.  I know what you are thinking….no, I don’t work for either of those stores, but yeah, I am there a lot.  Although the wineglass is a bit cheesy with the feathers, these items would be great holiday gifts.  And, of course, this was so easy!  Today, I will show you how to make the items above, plus a couple more.
I am a firm believer that everything looks better once you slap an initial or a monogram on it.  I jazzed up these plain ornaments with initial stickers and ribbon.  The stickers are great because they are very thin, so they don’t look as if you just put a sticker on.  They look like they were painted on.  Just look for good quality stickers in the craft section of Wal-Mart, or at your craft store.  These ornaments would be the perfect topper for a wrapped gift.
Here is another look…..
These bags are also super easy to make.  Not as easy as putting a sticker on, but easy just the same.  I bought tote bags, in a set of three, from Wal-Mart.  Wal-Mart also carries “fabric pens”.  I got mine in a set of 4 with black, blue, red and yellow.  I started by printing out the initial I wanted to use on cardstock.  Then, I cut it out and placed it on the bag, where I wanted to trace.
Uh-oh, sausage fingers!!  I tapes mine down to make it easier to trace.  Once I had it traced onto the bag, I colored it in with the fabric pen.  So simple, but so cute!
The next gift that I made is a tray for my mom.  (Act surprised when you open it, mom)  I painted it white, but many times you can buy trays that are white. I got the tray from the craft store, in the unfinished wood section.
Again, I printed out the monogram on cardstock, cut it out, and traced it onto the tray.  Then, I used craft paint to fill in the monogram.  My tray came with a clear overlay, so it is completely food safe.
The final thing I made is another ornament, or a package topper.  I bought a plain cardboard initial, painted it with glue, and then sprinkled glitter all over it.  I think it turned out really cute, plus, I love anything that is glittered.

I think that everything I showed you above would be a great gift, gift topper, or even super fun to make for yourself.  Like I said, it couldn’t be easier to make this stuff!  I know the girls at my girl’s weekend were very excited to receive their bags, and I am sure your friends and family would be happy too!

I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving with your loved ones.  I will see you all back on Friday afternoon with a great “left-overs” recipe!

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