Beth had a gorgeous table runner at her wedding, made by Couture Weddings, and I wanted something like.
I figured this would be something I could easily DIY, so I decided to take on the task. I found my table runner at Linen Tablecloth during their huge clearance sale for only $2.
What You Need:
- Table runner large enough to paint a monogram (mine is 39x88 inches)
- Posterboard
- Printer
- Projector
- Paint (I used acrylic paint, but fabric paint might work better)
- Different size paint brushes
- Wax paper
1. I printed my monogram and then used the projector in one of my fiance's classrooms to trace the monogram on a piece of posterboard. I recommend doing the tracing with a pencil so you can correct if needed. (This picture is from when I was working on my aisle runner, so it's a different monogram.)
2. Trace over the pencil with a sharpie to make it darker.
3. Lay your table runner over the poster board and then trace your monogram with pencil onto the table runner. Trace it as light as possible so it's not noticeable after you paint.
4. Tape wax paper onto the back because the paint will bleed through. The wax paper will make sure that the table runner does not stick to whatever it is sitting on as it dries.
5. Now, start to paint your monogram. I recommend doing one color at a time and letting each part dry in between. This way you make sure not to smudge. You're probably going to want different size paint brushes so that you have bigger brushes for bigger areas and smaller brushes for smaller, more detailed areas.
6. Let the entire thing dry for at least a day before you fold it up. Remove the wax paper and you have a gorgeous painted table runner!
It's not perfect, but no one is going to notice from far away and in dimmed lighting. I'm very happy with the way it turned out.
Price Breakdown:
Table Runner: $2
Paint: $2
Paint brushes: $2
Poster board: $1
TOTAL: $7
They run about $25 to have someone to make it for you, so I made it for significantly cheaper.
PSA: Linen Tablecloth still has their table runners on a pretty good sale. Only $2.59 each. Check them out here.
I submitted this tutorial to The CSI Project.
