So you managed to get your family an invite to someone else’s Thanksgiving feast… SCORE! Now you won’t have to worry about basting a Turkey come Thursday, but be a good guest and don’t forget a hostess gift. You could always go the edible route (try this or this) or for a more lasting token of appreciation make these easy Monogram Tea Towels.
Made with freezer-paper stencils and craft paint, they’re so simple you could even whip them up on Thanksgiving morning (you know, in that time when — if not for your gracious host — you’d have been elbow-deep in turkey carcass.)
Here’s what you need:
:: white flour sack towels
:: freezer paper
:: craft knife
:: iron
:: acrylic craft paint
:: foam brush
:: scrap piece of cardboard
Begin by formatting the initial you want to use for the monogram in any word processor program. Type the letter and change it to a classic font (we used “Century”) then make it 250-point size. Center the letter on the page and print.
Place a piece of freezer paper, shiny side down, over the top of your print out, and trace the letter onto the back of the freezer paper. Use a craft knife to cut out the letter. If your monogram has floating inner pieces (such as O, A, B) be sure to hang onto those pieces that you’ll need to complete the stencil. Although you can reuse your monogram print out, you will need one freezer paper stencil for each towel you wish to make.
Once your freezer-paper stencil is cut out, apply it to the towel. Align the stencil, shiny side down, at the center of one edge and iron into place. The heat from the iron will cause the plastic coating on the freezer paper to stick, sealing the edges to create a nice, crisp stencil line. (This process is similar to the Fireworks Splatter shirts we made last summer.)
Before painting, place a scrap piece of cardboard behind the fabric to catch any paint that might soak through. Using a foam brush dab on acrylic craft paint, covering the letter completely. Let paint dry. (A blow dryer really speeds up drying time if you’re in a hurry!) Carefully peel off the freezer paper.
To package we folded two monogrammed towels into thirds then rolled up and slid into a canning jar. Tie on a couple jingle bells with yarn or ribbon for a festive finishing touch.
Loving this idea for some of the people on my holiday gift list! I can hardly wait to get started!
Question: did you wash your towels before doing the stenciling or not?
I did not — I wonder if that would have been a good idea though?
I love my monogramed dish towels. Thanks, BettiJo
Can you wash the towels after they are painted?
Yes! They are machine washable. I’ve been using mine for a year and they look great still.
Oh, I was already thinking about doing this. Now,I know I have to get some made.Thanks!
I see that they are indeed washable. But, you did use regular craft paint, without adding any medium? One more question… MS Word only increases fonts to a certain size -not large enough for this project. Any suggestions?
The green you used is beautiful! Thanks!
I used “insrt word art” on MS word. You can type in any font size. Mine was 340.
I just used regular acrylic craft paint with nothing added… the fabric paint was more expensive so I figured I’d try the acrylic stuff first and it works great.
As far as the MS Word thing, I’m able to make type as large as I want. I know the drop down menu only goes to 72, but you can usually just type in whatever number you want. At least that is how I do it. Good luck. –bettijo
What a great gift idea. Can you tell me what size jar you used?
can i use wax paper as opposed to freezer paper? will the wax paper stick to my iron and ruin it? i’m a little afraid to try it…