DIY Artificial Grass Monogram

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Monograms are one of the hottest trends in home décor. It's personalization with a twist, as the monogram can be made with a variety of materials to reflect your personality. For a spring vibe, these monograms covered in artificial grass are both stylish and cheerful. And they're constructed with upcycled cardboard boxes—for a truly out of the box decoration.

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Image Credit: Jonathan Fong

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Things You'll Need

  • Initial letter printed on paper

  • Scissors

  • Cardboard

  • Pen

  • Hobby knife

  • Ruler or straight edge

  • Hot glue gun

  • Large rock

  • Duct tape

  • Artificial grass

Image Credit: Jonathan Fong

Step 1: Make a Template

With a word processing or graphics program, create an initial letter of your desired size. The one in this example is made to fit an 11-inch by 17-inch piece of paper. Choose a bold font that is sans serif so it it will be easier to work with. Print out the letter, and cut it out with scissors.

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Image Credit: Jonathan Fong

Step 2: Trace on Cardboard

Place the template on a piece of cardboard, and trace the letter with a pen. This is a great use for old boxes, instead of throwing them out or tossing them in the recycling bin.

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Image Credit: Jonathan Fong

Step 3: Cut Out the Letter

Cut out the letter with a hobby knife, and be sure to have a cutting mat underneath to protect your workspace. Depending on how dexterous you are with a hobby knife, you may prefer to use scissors, especially around curves.

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Image Credit: Jonathan Fong

Repeat, and cut out a second letter. You'll need one for the front and one for the back.

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Image Credit: Jonathan Fong

Step 4: Cut the Side Pieces

Cut strips of cardboard that will fit around all the inner and outer edges of the letter. How high you make these side pieces will depend on how thick you want your finished monogram. I decided on three inches.

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Image Credit: Jonathan Fong

For curved letters, bend the cardboard at the corrugation. Make sure your side pieces are cut with the grooves of the cardboard going crosswise to make these sides flexible. Of course, if your letters have only straight lines, such as As, Es and Xs, this won't be a factor.

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Image Credit: Jonathan Fong

Step 5: Glue the Side Pieces

With a hot glue gun, attach the side pieces to the edges of the monogram letter. They should be attached perpendicularly to the surface of the letter rather than against the side edge, so that the front monogram will fit right on it later. For structural stability, apply hot glue to the corners where the side pieces meet.

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Image Credit: Jonathan Fong

Step 6: Insert a Weight

To help the monogram stay upright, hot glue a rock to the bottom, and secure it with duct tape. Weighting the bottom is particularly useful for top-heavy letters like Y or T.

Image Credit: Jonathan Fong

Step 7: Attach the Front

Hot glue the front piece onto the rest of the monogram, applying the hot glue to the edges of the cardboard. The side pieces are still flexible at this point, so adjust them if necessary to line up with the front piece.

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Image Credit: Jonathan Fong

Step 8: Trace on Artificial Grass

Turn a piece of artificial grass over onto its plain side. Pace the monogram on top of the grass, and trace the letter. Flip the monogram over and trace the other side. These will be for the front and back.

Image Credit: Jonathan Fong

Step 9: Cut Out the Grass Letters

Following where you traced, cut out the letters with scissors. You will have one grass letter that is the correct orientation and one that is backwards. (Symmetrical letters like A and X will look the same either way.)

Image Credit: Jonathan Fong

Step 10: Glue the Grass Letters

Attach the grass letters to the cardboard base with a hot glue gun. Hot glue can dry very quickly, so it's best to glue a section at a time rather than attempting to apply hot glue the entire letter all at once. Then glue the "reverse" grass letter on the back.

Image Credit: Jonathan Fong

Step 11: Cut Strips of Grass for Sides

Measure how thick your sides are now. They will actually be thicker than the cardboard side pieces you cut because of the addition of the front and back letters. Then cut strips of grass that correspond to this thickness. Mine were about three and a half inches.

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Image Credit: Jonathan Fong

Step 12: Glue the Side Pieces of Grass

Hot glue the strips of grass to the sides of the monogram. Work one side at a time. The artificial grass is very forgiving, so your measurements do not have to be precise to get good coverage over the cardboard. If you come up short, you can always cut a small piece of grass and glue it on.

Image Credit: Jonathan Fong

Display your artificial grass monograms indoors or on a covered porch. They also make great gifts, or even party decor, spelling out names or initials of guests of honor. Everyone will agree, creativity is your turf.

Image Credit: Jonathan Fong

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