Tutorial: DIY Monogrammed Labels and Notecards

 I write a lot of notes, and the other day I realized I was out of notecards.  That’s almost an emergency in this house!  As I looked around online, I found lots of cute stationery and notecards, but they seemed so expensive to me (note: this could possibly be because I am cheap).  Even the ones on Etsy were more than I wanted to pay–again, I go through several a week.  Do I want to budget $50 a month for stationery?  NO!

I wanted to come up with my own monogrammed notecards, but I was hamstrung by the fact that I don’t own any fancy graphics software and I didn’t really want to buy any.   But there is always a workaround if you’re creative enough!

So, Step 1 is to find some cute stationery or notecards.  I purchased this bunch at Target.  The quatrefoil notecards are both by Mara-Mi and the polka dot and green chevron ones are both by Spritz.  The Mara-Mi ones were $4.99 for 10 notecards (now, that’s what I’m talking about!) and the Spritz ones were $3.79 for 10 (even better!).

TJ Maxx/Home Goods will often have cute cards, too, so take a look there if you don’t find what you’re looking for right away.

Step 2 was to download the Monogram–Wallpaper & Backgrounds Maker app from Yellow Lab, Inc. to my iPhone.  I happily paid $1.99 for the full version; however, they have a free version that you can try first if you’d like.  You can make custom wallpaper to your heart’s content with this and share them with friends–I think I’ve done a couple of dozen in under 24 hours!  Since I’m not sure if they have an Android-based app, I’ll give you a couple of workarounds.  PrintableMonogram.com has a square monogram label that you can create online and print out on full-sheet sticker paper.  You are slightly more limited by colors and fonts than if you use the Monogram app, but it’s a good alternative.  These are the same awesome girls who run For Chic Sake, which you can try, too.

In the monogram app, I selected a solid color background (navy for the pink quatrefoil notecards, white for the grey and yellow ones, and aqua for the polka dot ones).  I then selected the style and color of the medallion (white for the pink quatrefoil notecards, white for the grey and yellow ones, and aqua for the polka dot ones).  I then selected the style and color of the font (navy for the pink quatrefoil notecards, grey for the grey and yellow ones, and white for the polka dot ones).  I never found a combination I like for the green chevron ones so I’m going to hold onto them for later.  By the way, I just used the Monogram font; if you want the Vines font, they ask you to pay an additional $0.99, which I will probably do at some point.

Step 3 I emailed myself the completed monograms because sometimes it’s just easier on a desktop. Obviously, you can just plug your phone in to the computer and transfer them to iPhoto that way.

Step 4 I opened the monograms in a photo editing program.  I used PicMonkey {affiliate link}, but Picasa or iPhoto would work, too.  You just need a program that will let you crop a picture.  You want your rectangular wallpaper monogram to be cropped from this:

To this:

No need to downsize the resolution, in fact, the bigger the file size, the better.  Save your new image.

Step 5 Create your new label:  open Avery’s Design & Print software online (it’s free to use).  Their DesignPro software is also available (for free) from the same page; I’ve used both and they both work very well.

Did I mention you need either round labels or full-sheet sticker paper?  If you’re using Avery, it’s #22830 for 2-1/2″ Print-to-the-Edge Round Labels (for ink jet and laser), #22807 for 2″ Print-to-the-Edge Round Labels (for ink jet and laser), or #8165 for ink jet full-page labels.  Use the round labels in your preferred size, unless you have a scrapbook/craft punch, then you can use the full-sheet labels.

Here are the ones I used:

They’ll ask you to put in your product number (#22830 for me).  As an aside, the Avery folks have TONS of cool templates available for all of their labels.  Here’s just one page of the ones I could have chosen for the round labels (don’t you love the one with the macarons on it?!):

You’ll want to click on All Designs and select the first design–a blank circle.  Then click on Images and From My Computer.  Select your square monogram file and click and drag it so that it covers the round label. Here’s how mine looked:

The D&PO software is very intuitive and user-friendly.  I’ve used it for several projects and it’s been no problem customizing my design just the way I want it.

When you’re satisfied with your design, just click on the green Preview & Print button at the top right of the screen.  A .pdf file will open in a separate window for you to print and save to your computer, if you’d like to keep a copy.

Step 6 Print your labels.  Ensure good results by selecting the best print quality that you can.  Here’s how mine turned out:

 Then, I just peeled them off and centered them on the notecards:

Here are the yellow and grey ones. In hindsight, I should have printed a test sheet first.  There are three different shades of gray in the Monogram app and I should have chosen the lighter one.  Live and learn, though.

My daughter’s are a cheerful coral and aqua polka dot pattern.  I printed hers on a full sheet sticker page (using the template for the 2″ labels) and then cut them out using my 2″ scrapbook punches.  They needed a slightly smaller monogram as they are smaller than the quatrefoil notecards, but I didn’t have any pre-cut 2″ labels.  I think I prefer the one with the scalloped edge–don’t you?

All in all, this was an easy and inexpensive way to add a little personalization to my stationery collection.

But what color should I put on those green notecards?!