School of Decorating

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DIY Wood Veneer Monogram

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I love a monogram.  I love our letter H.  I knew I wanted to include our last initial in our family photo wall.  I also knew I did not want to spend a bunch of $$$ on a letter.  I also could not find exactly what I was looking for.  I wanted something chunky and straight-lined.  Most the metal letters I had seen for sale were in a serif font…too traditional.
I found paper mache letters at Joann Fabrics.  I was not exactly sure how I would transform the letter yet, but I knew it would work.  The medium size H was perfectly chunky and perfectly straight-lined.  I used a 50% off coupon to buy the letter H for under $5.  Then, at Michaels, I found some real wood veneer scrapbook “paper” on clearance.  It was still $2 a sheet, but I loved the wood grain.  I grabbed a couple sheets.
I decided to makeover the paper mache letter with a little wood veneer and a pop of color.  From my paint stash, I selected a nice aqua color.  I painted all the edges of the letter and made sure to paint the top edge a little bit.  The letter was almost 12″ high and fit perfectly within the 12″ wood veneer paper.  I traced the letter onto the back of the veneer.  Then I cut just inside the lines all around the letter.  Then I used Yes! paste to glue the veneer onto the face of the letter.  I coated the veneer with some gloss Mod Podge to give it a little sheen.  To hang the completed letter, I used 3m picture hanging strips.
The effect I was after was a chunky wood letter whose edges had been painted a nice bright color.  For less than $10, I think I succeeded.  The aqua paint jumps off the zinc walls and makes the monogram stand out.  The aqua color, which is part of my accent color palette, also ties in well with the color in the photographs and the fabric remnant in the oval frame.

Comments

    • Jackie says

      Amy, thanks for checking out the gallery wall. Thank you for letting us Idea Room readers share our projects with you!

      -Jackie

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