Monogram Napkin Holder

Monograms are all the rage and can add class to even the simplest of things around the house. You can make an inexpensive household object look like it came from a designer just by adding a monogram.

Since I could not find a napkin holder that was etchable, I decided to make my own. It turns out it was not that hard. Two square, 4” thick beveled ornaments were the perfect size for the napkin holder sides and I used a scrap piece of wood for the base that I sanded and stained. As for the monogram, that took less than an hour to engrave, and the whole project was finished in an hour and a half!

If you’ve never engraved before, give it a try…you’ll be amazed how fast and easy it is to do and the results can be quite impressive.

Supplies:

• #29-2432 4” Clear thick bevel ornament – 2pcs
• #14-1603 Decorative letters CD-ROM book
• #85-1603 High speed rotary engraver
• #26-0801 Small diamond tip
• #26-0803 Large diamond tip
• #26-0840 Shader tip
• #61-3385 5mm Crystal Hot Fix Rhinestones
• #61-3370 Hot Fix Wand
• #15-0315 Glass cleaner
• #08-9415 Masking tape
• #08-9777 Scissors
• Home computer w/ printer or photocopier
• Paper towels
• Block of wood, 4”L x 1”W x ¾” thick, sanded, stained or painted
• 2 Finish wood screws
• Screwdriver
• Pencil
• washable fine line marker

Directions:

1. Follow the direction from the CD-ROM book to run the disk on your PC and find the monogram letter of your choice.
2. Set your size to 3” and print. (If you do not have a PC at home, the book contains pics of the letters which you can copy on a photocopier at a stationary store).
3. Center the ornament over the monogram letter and trace around it with a pencil. Cut out the square. This is your template.
4. Tape the monogram face side up on the underside of the ornament so it’s showing through to the front. The hole should be at the bottom (which is where it will screw into the base later).
5. Trace the lines of the monogram onto the face of the ornament with a washable fine line marker.
6. Insert the small diamond tip into the high speed rotary engraver and outline all of the lines of the letter you made with the marker.
7. Change the diamond tip to the large tip and widen some of the lines according to the picture. Typically you should widen the bolder lines on the design, but you can widen any of the lines you want to show more prominently.
8. Next, change to the shader tip. Fill in and shade the widest parts of the letter and any other decorative elements that are part of the design you would like frosted or are too wide to shade with the large diamond tip.
9. Remove the paper from the back of the ornament.
10. Clean glass with glass cleaner.
11. Hold the ornament up to the light, touch up any areas that need defining.
12. Repeat 2 through 8 with other ornament if desired.
13. Attach crystals where desired on monogram with the Hot Fix Wand.
14. With the base flat on the table, stand one of the ornaments up alongside the length of the base so it is even with the ends of the wood. Tape both pieces together so they do not shift while you screw them together. Repeat for the other side.