DIY Network

Floral Monograms Easy to Make

Cathie Filian and Steve Piacenza, cohosts of Creative Juice, show how to create this cute, fragrant decoration.

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With summer here, take a lead from all the blooming flowers and rich colors around you and create an easy floral monogram.

How to create a floral monogram

By Cathie Filian and Steve Piacenza

With summer here, take a lead from all the blooming flowers and rich colors around you, and create an easy floral monogram for your front door, a baby's nursery or a teenager's room. The possibilities are endless!

You can customize this project to fit your own personal style and decor by choosing different types of flowers and ribbons. The pastel colors in hydrangea petals are a fresh look for spring and summer, but, with richer colors and velvet ribbon, you can create the same monogram for fall and winter.

Cathie first made this project as a gift her mother-in-law's birthday. She loved it and it adorns her front door. For another gift, she created a monogram for her niece, but instead of just using one initial, made all the letters in her first name.

Up next is one made in the form of the letter "G" for Grandmother Graham, who is 98 and lives in a senior apartment. It will be the perfect touch for her front door--and it will give all the ladies something to talk about.

Here's how to create your own:

Materials:

6" wooden letter of choice
white craft paint and paintbrush
pencil
floral print scrapbook paper
glue stick
hot glue
tacky glue
1 large silk hydrangea
1/4-inch decorative ribbon (enough to go around your letter, plus 10 inches)
small rhinestones or ultra fine glitter

Steps:

1. Paint the back, front and sides of the letter with the white craft paint and allow to dry.

2. Lightly trace the letter onto the scrapbook paper. Cut out the tracing and use a glue stick to attach the paper to the front of the letter. Use your fingers to press out any air bubbles.

3. Cut 10 inches off your decorative ribbon. (This will be your hanger.) Turn the letter over and attach the ribbon hanger by forming a "U" shape with the ribbon and hot-gluing the ends of the ribbon to the back of the letter about two inches from the top.

4. Use the hot glue gun to attach the remaining ribbon around the outer edge of the letter.

5. Break apart the silk flower so you have lots of little petals. Use hot glue to attach the petals to the front of the letter. (You can glue them in a random pattern or a design of your choice) Use a drop of glue and add a few sprinkles of ultra fine glitter to the center of the petals or add rhinestones for decorative effect.

(Cathie Filian and Steve Piacenza cohost Creative Juice. For more information log on to www.cathiefilian.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)

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