Wooden monogram

Hi guys! I finally finished the large wooden monogram letter I had been working on as a Christmas gift for Lauren, one of my "almost" daughter in laws :) I'm fairly certain she has never read my blog so I feel relatively safe posting this. And of course if she were to see it I don't think it would be that big a deal. But still, I'd like it to be a surprise so let's all keep our fingers crossed lol.

I picked up the giant wooden letter from Hobby Lobby...normally priced at $12.99 I think. But, it was my lucky day because the day I was there they actually had them at 50% off--WOOT! The dimensions are 18 inches in height and approximately 13 1/2 inches across so this is a good sized monogram.

I tried to pick out the smoothest one I could find but still had quite a bit of sanding to do before I could even begin the process of painting. Eventually though, I had it sanded and ready for paint!
I used a plain black acrylic paint from my stash and Glossy Mod Podge for my sealant.
Basically, I painted it a couple of times to get good coverage and then covered with a coat of mod podge,  I then added the lettering and photos and mod podged that a couple more times as well.
Eventually, after making all the flowers and working the pearls and flowers together, it was FINALLY time to start the fun part of putting it all together and trying to create something beautiful. I am happy with the finished project and I hope that it's something that Lauren will be proud to display in her home for a long time to come. It's always a surreal feeling when you take something as plain as a raw wooden letter and turn it into something to, hopefully, be cherished.

Here are a couple of photos and (gasp!) a video as well! I really stepped outside my comfort zone making and posting a video but I figure it's nice to do that every now and again ;)

link to youtube video <<<-------CLICK HERE



First, here's a BEFORE photo...just to give you an idea of where I started. The photo is slightly deceptive in that the letter looks completely smooth when, in fact, it wasn't. The grooves were especially rough. I guess I'm going on about the sanding because I wasn't expecting to do quite so much of it lol.

I really hope you enjoyed today's post and I hope you come back soon to see what else I might have going on!

Rhonda