Monogram Place Cards And Treat Boxes

Yesterday’s post was all about our Easter celebration.  It went a little something like this:

And this.  Find all the Easter-y (made up word alert!) details here.

And yesterday I also mentioned that I would give you the step-by-step instructions for the personalized touches.  And I don’t go back on my word.  At least not lately.  So let’s get stepping!

Monogram Place Cards

Oh, Martha Stewart craft paint.  How I love thee.  So versatile, so reliable and so very, very pretty.  She seriously has the most beautiful color palette.  I’d like to introduce you to the colors Scallion (32010) and Artichoke (32011).  They made fast friends with my new napkins.

I bought these paints at Michaels, the canvases too.  Now that I think about it.  Almost all the supplies for the place cards came from that little wonderland of creativity.

Artist’s Loft White Mini Canvas, 4 x 4 inch, two per pack.

And then I got about the business of painting.  I learned, through trial and error, that painting the edges first works best.

And then…the top.  It took a few coats but the previously blank canvas became a green wonderland.

I used mason jars (oh I how love you!) to hold the canvas while I painted.  And then they became a perfect drying rack.

The canvases all painted and purty.

Now for some stencilin’.  The stencil kit I used was Martha Stewart Crafts Monogram Serif Stencil Set.

Decide on the layout of your monogram (or whatever it is you are stenciling) and trace it onto the tracing paper.  As I traced my first letter, I used the bottom of the stencil square as my straight edge.  I drew a line under it and then used that to line up the subsequent letters.

Place the tracing paper design on your canvas and decide on placement.  This next part can be a little tricky.  Carefully line up the first stencil with your traced design by sliding the stencil under the tracing paper.

Tape the stencil in place. (I used stencil tape but I think any low tack tape will do.)

And begin painting!  I tried brushes of various sizes and these foam pouncers.

The foam pouncers worked the best, hands down.  They distributed the paint nicely, didn’t bleed under the stencil and the word pouncer is just too fun not to use once or twice during your lifetime.  Pouncer, pouncy, pouncerific!  (My spell check is freaking out right now.  Freaking out!)

Admire your work.  Admire your steady hand.  Admire your supreme pouncer skills.  (Sorry I just had to!)  And then stop admiring and repeat the process for the rest of your letters.

Monogram mission complete!

A whole slew of monogram magic.

And the finishing touch?  A touch of sisal.  Sisal is kind of like twine but more like his stronger, stiffer older brother.  Find sisal and his siblings at a hardware store near you.

And the canvas finds a home.  Happy tears.

Monogram Treat Boxes

I spied these white jewelry boxes at Jo-Ann Fabric and thought they would make a perfect treat box for my little guests.

My craft paint got another workout.  I painted the outside of the boxes first.

And then I decided the inside needed a coat too.

I used the same stencil process on these too but opted for just the first initial vs. the whole monogram enchilada.  Wait.  Did someone say enchilada?  Yum.

I filled a square piece of plastic wrap with Easter candies and tied them tight with my good old buddy Sisal.

You probably think all the sisal tying was just for decorative effect.  If you aren’t asking, it totally was.  If you are, it also helped keep me out of those heavenly dark chocolate M&Ms.  Seriously, those things are delish!

And then there were more happy, happy tears.

Happy stenciling!  And pouncing.  O.K.  I’m done.  I promise.