Eucalyptus adorned monogram letters

In ancient Rome and Greece a victor was awarded a laurel wreath to wear upon his head. Forward several hundred years and monogram letters are all the rage. Recently I came across some inexpensive particleboard letters at my local craft store and I thought why not decorate them in a laurel wreath fashion.  I substituted eucalyptus leaves and attached them to the letters. You can be the judge if this effort was a V for victory or not.  I used both mine and my husband’s initials C and V…his name is Vincent, which basically means to conquer, or in other words, the victor. 

You will need:

Particleboard letters

Eucalyptus, leaves removed (I used green but you can substitute any color you choose

Thick tacky glue

Acrylic paint in color to match your leaves

Small paintbrush

Waxed paper to protect your work surface

Picture  hangers

1.     Use the small paintbrush to apply acrylic paint to the front and sides of the letter you are using.  Let dry. 

2.     Gently pull off the leaves from the eucalyptus branches and set aside.  Starting at the base end of a leaf apply a dab of thick tacky glue and attach to the letter.  Attach a second leaf by adding glue to the base and sliding under the previous leaf.  Continue adding leaves in this manner one at a time.

3.     Pat down the leaves occasionally to make sure that the glued ends have adhered to the letter.  Some of the leaves will be raised for the dimensional look. 

4.     Continue working in this manner until you have covered the entire letter.  Fill in any areas with extra leaves as needed.  Let dry.

5.     When the glue is dry attach a hanger to the back and display.

Note:  You can also use the thicker paper mache or wooden letters for even more dimension!