Materials for a beach themed one:
Chipboard pendants- picked up at Hobby Lobby ($3.49 for 9)
Chipboard letter ($0.99)
Sand- taken from my little sisters sandbox
An old Lilly planner page- this one with a crab print
Paper flowers- from scrapbooking section
Mod podge- matte and sparkle finish
Clear acrylic spray sealant
Hot glue gun
X-acto knife
For this extremely pretty monogram, (made for my one follower, and it is by far my favorite of them all) I started by covering the chipboard pennant in matte mod podge. This only takes a thin layer, so don't use too much or it'll clump. I used a chink of kitchen sponge for all my mod podge application. I did this on top of a piece of construction paper to make the next step easier to clean up.
Next, dump your sand on top of the chipboard that is now covered in mod podge. Shake it around on there to get full coverage.
Wait a few minutes before doing this next step, ten minutes is probably sufficient. Then take your chipboard outside (the fumes are strong) and carefully coat it with the clear acrylic (matte finish) spray. Make sure you stay a good distance away and don't overuse the spray.
Now, while your chipboard is drying you can start covering the letter with the print. Pick a position that you want the letter to be in. I put my printed page face up on the table, laid my letter on top of it, and then carefully used the x-acto knife to cut around it. This is easier than cutting it after you glue.
Once your print is cut out, apply a light coat of the matte mod podge to the letter and then adhere the print to it carefully. Again, it doesn't take much glue to keep it in a good position. Let this dry for a few minutes as well.
Now comes the fun part...glitter! Use your sponge chunk to gently brush a thin layer of the sparkle mod podge over the top of the print letter. Try to eliminate "brush marks" as much as you can, but in all reality you won't notice a lot when it's dry. Let that coat dry, then apply a second one just for good measure.
Now that your pennant is dry, position your letters and accessories (in this case flowers and a quote) on it. Lay it out the way you think it'll look best and then hot glue each piece on individually.
If your pennant seemed to curl after your clear coat layer, don't worry. The letter, once hot glued on, will hold it flat and straight!
Now look at that! You have a super cute monogram to hang up! I would've totally done a whole name to hang by string for her room, but I was worried about getting everyone else's done as well. Wouldn't a whole name look cute strung up with some braided twine? Try it out yourself! More monogram styles to be posted soon. :-)
