DIY Family Monogram Plate

So it has been a little while since my last post. I have been busy. However, I for sure will not let go of this project and I am back! So in my last post I asked you about color you think I should paint/stain my cabinets in my kitchen. Most of you chosen Espresso and I think it is a good option. So if you looked at the photoshopped picture oh my potential kitchen that I posted, you were probably thinking, "what in the world is that on the wall over the range?!"

Well that is what I intend to show you today. :) I made a craft to go over my range on the wall (I don't have a backsplash - I want to find a nice inexpensive and creative way to have one) that is a focal point in my kitchen. I cannot yet disclose how it looks in the kitchen as I have not done the reveal of the kitchen yet (not ready for it yet). But I do want to show you how awesome it itself looks and how you can do it. OK so this is what I did and how it actually looks like in the real non-photoshopped life...

So how do you make something like this? I call this a Family Monogram Plate. Here's how I did it.

I went to the thrift store (I LOVE thrift stores!) and got these two plates. One is like a platter, metal-ish, and very ugly. The only thing that I liked about it was the border and the size. I saw great potential in this. The white plate I loved. It was white, oversized, and I loved the border as well (and I only had to buy 1 - except that I went back the next day and bought a couple more like it for some other crafts I have planned).

I primed the gold platter (see that it already had the nice little hook ring there ready to hang so it was perfect, I didn't have to install that myself...

Then I painted it (my paint is a flat finish paint because I wanted it to look like wall paper on the wall, so for this project, I used shellac after I painted it and it was dry so that it could have a nice subtle gloss and so that it can be easy to clean (gotta love that!).

Then I used my handy dandy glue E6000 glue that I got from the local True Value Hardware:

and put it on BOTH surfaces since neither one of them is porous. 

And then had it dry for about 3 days (in which you do NOT want to touch it because it can come apart, yes, it does take that long for that much glue to harden completely, but when it hardens, it HARDENS!). And yes, it did happen to me, I was too curious and I had to go through the glueing process a second time, so learn from my experience. :)

Then after then were stacked and the glue was dry, I placed a vinyl monogram I ordered through Etsy (because of the size it was very inexpensive) and I placed it on there as soon as I received it. If you have a local friend that can do this for you, then that would be great because you wouldn't have to wait as long to get it and it might be cheaper. :)

And voila! Our plate is finished and I get so many compliments by people who come into my kitchen and see it. The M is the first letter in our last name so it is very well-suited and customized for our family (love that!). That's the beauty of making your own crafts - cheap, stylish, custom!

Have fun making yours if you want to endeavor making one - super easy!! Hugs!