Salt Dough Wall Monogram

Whether you have boys, girls, or both, you can bet on one thing: they don't want their bedrooms to look alike. One child might want everything in the room to be pink and white. Another might want a truck or car theme in the bedroom. But rarely do you find two kids in the same home who like the same decorator things in their rooms. There is one wall accent that you can make for an infant's room, a boy's or girl's room, or even your own bedroom, though, and it will please any boy or girl. When you make wall monograms you have a decorator piece for any room or anyone.

Salt dough is one of the best mediums for creating lovely decorator pieces without spending a bunch of money. Most people have everything they need, right in the kitchen, to make the salt dough itself. After that, the possibilities are endless.

In a medium bowl, stir together a quarter-cup of salt, a half-cup of flour, and a quarter-cup of water. If the mixture is a little sticky add a bit more flour. Or, if it's too thick and dry, add a dab of water. It's important, though, that the mixture not be too dry or, as the letters bake, they'll crack.

Roll out the dough with a rolling pin or just flatten it with your hands. The dough should be about a half-inch thick. Now you can use whatever method you want to create the wall letters. You can use cookie cutters, a knife, or even a toothpick, to draw and cut the letters. You can cut just two or three letters, to create a monogram, or you can cut out letters to spell a child's name. Or cut letters to spell out a sentiment, like "Love", "Peace", or "Family".

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Put the salt dough letters on a baking sheet and slide it into the oven. Allow the letters to bake for two and a half hours then remove them. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Paint the letters with acrylic paints. They can all be the same color or each letter can be a different color. You can paint each letter a color, and when it dries, go back and add dots, stripes, or other accents. After all the paint has dried, spray the letters with a clear-coat, acrylic product.

There are lots of things you can do with the salt dough letters. Use double-sided tape or glue dots to hang them on a wall. Or, put a piece of magnetic sheeting on the back of each letter and spell out a name or word on the refrigerator. Yet another option is to just glue the letters to things like picture frames, mirror frames, lamps, and other decorator items. And, you don't have to stop at letters. Make other shapes to create even more home accents. They're so cheap and easy to make that you can do many, many projects for just a few bucks.