I’m making a housewarming present for Robert and Amanda, and I thought a wreath would be perfect.  Amanda likes monograms, LSU, and fleur-de-lis, so my plan is to incorporate all three.  First, the monogram.  I bought an over-sized R and painted it — front and back — with yellow craft paint.  It needed a couple coats.

 

I’ll let you know when I get the wreath finished.  I’m sure Robert and Amanda will love it!

I wanted purple and gold stripes (Rah, rah, LSU!), so I covered the sections that I wanted to remain yellow with blue painters tape.  I used a small piece of painters tape to act as a spacer so all my rows would be evenly spaced.

I didn’t have purple craft paint, so I mixed some red and blue.  No point in a drive to the craft store for one little thing, right?  I then painted the purple over the open yellow spots, remembering to paint the sides too.  When the paint dried, I gave it all a second coat.  After than had dried, I used a black Sharpie pen to mark each spot where the yellow met the purple paint.  This hid several spots where they paint had bled slightly under the painters tape.

Now the fun begins!  This is my favorite decorative painting trick ever — so easy and so cute when finished.  Usingsmall daps of yellow, lavender, and white paint, I dipped a toothpick in a color and dabbed it onto the monogram.  The picture below shows the design I used up close and personal.