monogrammed vase DIY

I love anything with a monogram on it. Pillows, towels, you name it!
Maybe it is my love for typography, or maybe I grew up in the South in another life. Whatever it is, I just love a good old fashioned monogram.

I recently found a few websites that let you design a monogram for FREE. Mark & Graham is one, and The Wedding Chicks is another. Simply add in your initials and pick your design. These websites will generate a beautiful monogram for you. Once you have the design you like, save it to your computer.

Questions on what order the letters go in? Read this article to answer all your questions.

I wanted to jazz up a little side table in our office at Thompson Design + Build, so I made a couple vases with our monogram as well as another fun design for fall.

Here is what you will need to get started.

Waterslide decal paper, an inset printer, scissors, a bowl of water, acrylic spray, and your images.

Your monogram, or other image. You can find free printable images online. The two websites I like are, The Graphics Fairy, and Vecteezy.

Whatever you choose, you can’t go wrong. I decided to embellish 2 vases that I got at the thrift shop.

You will want a light colored background for whatever you are putting your decal on so it will contrast nicely.

A light background will make the decal pop.

Size the image you are going to print to fit the piece it will be applied too.

Print it out onto your decal paper and let the ink dry.

Lightly spray the top of the image with a coat of acrylic spray. Once dry, spray again. Do this until you have 3 coats on the image.

Next, cut the image out. You will want to leave about 2-3mm of spacing around your deign.

Fill a bowl with water and soak the image for 20-60 seconds.

Remove from the water and quickly slide the decal onto your object, smoothing out any bubbles.

Pat off any extra water with a paper towel.

Let the decal set and dry for at least 3 hours. Don’t expose to direct sunlight at this time.

Ceramics need to be baked in a 230 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.

Keep in mind, these will not be dishwasher safe.

And since I am starting to decorate for fall, I snipped a branch off of a maple tree in our yard and placed it in one of the vases. So simple, but I think it has a great impact.

If you are interested, you can find a similar table here.

The leather chair can be found here. To read about our office, see this post!

And today I’ve been joined by some of my blogging friends who are also sharing their Fall DIY projects! Just click on the links below the images to see their project ideas…