A sweet young woman who is nearest and dearest to my heart is getting married. Colloquially she is known as my "Sister from another Mister." I have known her since she was about 5 years old; our mothers taught 1st grade together for over a decade.
Now that the occasion to shower her with love and support her upcoming nuptials is upon us, I wanted to do something DIY. Sure, she's carefully selected some wonderful items for her gift registry. But I just love an opportunity to put a personal touch gifting. So, with no further ado, here is how I went about creating this gorgeous framed burlap initial (with much inspiration from Pinterest...you know the site with which we wanna-be crafters all have a love/hate relationship!)
First I gathered all of my supplies from Hobby Lobby. I started with an open-back frame, a ready-made frame from which I only needed the backing, a 1/4 yard of burlap (which was a stretch. I should have bought just a tad more for error), a die-cut letter, a piece of beautiful scrapbooking paper, and some mod podge (which I already had on hand).
I glued the burlap to the frame backing and trimmed around the edges to remove the excess so that it would sit down into the frame nicely. I tried to keep my lines straight (yes, I'm Type-A) but I also admitted to myself that any imperfections would add to the charm of the overall look.
Next I decoupaged the scrapbook paper to the letter. The design I chose has linear text on it, so again I
spent way too much time carefully attempted to keep the top of the letter "M" inline with the text. To each her own, I say! Here you want to make sure you use a very thin layer of mod podge and lay down the paper slowly. Use a straight edge to smooth out any air bubbles and wrinkles. You have a very small window of time during which you may pull up the paper and re apply it. Make sure you allow the paper and glue adequate time to fully dry before moving on.
Because I didn't take the time to paint the letter, but I also didn't fold down the paper to the edges of the letter, I took a marker and colored the sides black. I decided not to use a sharpie for fear that it would bleed onto the paper. However, you may like that look.
Check out the foot-photo-bomb by my daughter in the picture above. Never a dull moment around here! It's worth noting that I was working in my kitchen. Which means she was standing on my kitchen counters watching me work!
Using an exacto knife, I cut around the outside of the letter to remove the unused paper. Below, is my finished letter.
After securing the burlap backing into the frame, I used generous amounts of hot glue to apply the letter inside the frame. Viola! Instant artwork.
On the back of this piece, you will see that - to me - nothing in life is ever perfect. I used good ol' duct tape to keep the picture backing in place. It's strong, durable, and will never show when the artwork is hung or carefully displayed. Also, I attached the invitation from their engagement party so they would remember this wedding season, as well as the night they received this token of my love.
Some variations would be to use smaller letters of the couple's first names creating a true monogram. You could wait until after the wedding and use their wedding invitation and/or wedding program. You could even do this with photographs of the couple. But I am just giddy with the way my version turned out.
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