Monogram This!

  Hello Friends!

 

 

This is what I made today...a monogrammed plate.

 

It was so easy but, like a lot of things, I had to think about it for a little  long while before I jumped in. Let's just say I've had these supplies for awhile. Anyway... I bought the plate from Target and the pen from Amazon. The stencil I made on my Silhouette.

 

I decided, since I was doing this craft for the first time, that I'd start with something fairly simple; I chose a monogram. I found one on my laptop that I liked and cut it out on the Silhouette from removable label stock. I peeled the back off of the label and centered the letter on the plate, smoothing out wrinkles and making sure the label was firmly attached before tracing around it.

 

I used a pencil to trace around the letter, pressing firmly and going over it a few times to make sure the line was visible. Then I removed the sticker and  drew over the line with the paint pen. After the entire outline was done, I went back and filled the letter in. I had to press the tip of the pen down occasionally to refill it. It's better to keep the tip of the pen filled so that you only have to do one 'coat' of paint. I found this out the hard way when I had to do multiple coats because I let my pen tip get a little dry. It makes for an uneven surface when finished!

 

I'll follow the directions to finish this plate: let it air dry for 24 hours and then bake it at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. This sets the paint and makes it dishwasher-safe. I hope the baking process will also smooth out the finish a little. Since I'm only using the plate decoratively, I'm not worried about washing it but I'd still like it to have the most durable finish possible.

This monogram project was so fun...although between you and me, it makes me a little crazy that the letter isn't perfectly straight! I'll make sure to remedy that next time...I'm already hatching plans to paint and draw on lots of other things soon!

Stay tuned...

~ M ~