Monogram Knife Block

Knife blocks are a fabulously convenient part of many kitchens. I love the one I got for my wedding last year. But I knew there was a way to make it better. As with most things, monogramming it made it personal, unique, and like I said, better. I first saw this idea on Pinterest  (originally from here) a long long time ago and finally broke down and bought stencils the right size to do the monogram on my own knife block. I am so happy with the results. It is far from perfect (because I had to paint over the bumpy logo) but from 2 feet away or further you'd never know the difference. Here's the play by play:

I picked up these stencils for $3 at Walmart. They are cardboard instead of plastic, so they might not last forever, but I'm also not planning to use them all that often. They came with doubles of each letter too, so really they could be disposable. It didn't hurt that they are bright green like my kitchen :-). My stencils held up fine after use though, I just let the paint dry on them before putting them away. I used Folkart paint and a special stenciling brush from Michaels ($2 or $3 for 2). I taped my stencil in place, then got to work "pouncing" the paint on. For a stencil tutorial and more about pouncing, click here.

Below is what the monogram came out like right after removing the stencil. I cleaned up the outside edges a little using a pencil eraser, then connected the lines in the middle. If you want a more old school stencil look you can leave the gaps there. I prefer my monogram lines connected though.

Above you can see what I mean when I say I connected the lines. The one on the right was taken after I connected them with a fine tipped brush. Very carefully.

The paint matches my utensil crock perfectly! I scored that utensil crock in the Hobby Lobby clearance section for less than $5 last summer. I think it is supposed to be a planter or a vase (it is a little taller than most utensil crocks) but it works for me!

In the picture below you can really see how I painted right over the logo. It is very hard to see in person though, I caught the light just right in this picture.

It even springs up the kitchen a little in my opinion.