Marquee Letter/Monogram Wall Art

One trend that I don't see going away any time soon

is the marquee letter/monogram wall art trend. It's in catalogs

and magazines, on blogs and Pinterest. Have I fallen into the trap?

You bet.

I recently purchased a large galvanized vintage-inspired monogram letter

to hang on our family room wall. It was on sale for half price at Hobby

Lobby, so I swept in and got it before our initial was gone. Our last name

begins with "A" and it tends to be one of the first letters to disappear.

So I was happy to find that they still had one left.    

I love the look of it, but I also like the fact that it's three dimensional, so that it

doesn't even have to be hung on the wall. It can be placed on a shelf or a

mantel and just propped against the wall, easy peasy. I haven't hung mine
yet since the Christmas decorations are still up.

You can find the same letters in the Ballard Designs catalog.

Only theirs are $35.00 each.

Mine was $7.00.

I've also hung a gold "A" next to our fireplace. You can
read about that thrifty purchase here.
 

I got mine for $5.00 at Hobby Lobby.  

It's currently sold by Ballard's for $19.00.

I also like to put our initial on chalkboards as well.

And it's not just individual letters I'm enamored with. I've
also jumped on the kitchen "EAT" sign bandwagon.

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I'm sure you've seen similar signs before.

I ended up actually using two mediums for my Eat signs.

One was painted on a vintage wooden tray with DIY stencils.

The other EAT sign was made by simply painting some inexpensive
wooden letters I got at Wal-mart and propping them up on my kitchen
sideboard. I may eventually attach them to a permanent background of
 sorts, but for now I like them unattached so I can easily move them around
our eating area.  

You also may have seen one of my church rummage sale finds being

put to good use in one of my posts on Christmas decorating.

But beyond the letters and words I've used in my own home, you can find

them used in many different ways almost everywhere you look.

I love these galvanized metal "PEACE" letters used as mantel décor.

The letters have just the right amount of rust. And I love that whitewashed

brick behind the mantel.

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I also love how these letters are used to spell out a name

in this nautical-inspired children's bedroom.

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And I'd be totally remiss without mentioning the real deal: actual honest to goodness

 light-up marquee lights. They're also available commercially but there are many

DIY versions out there like this one at Happy Looks Good on You.

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I'd love to try it once things have died down after the holidays. I know they

can be very expensive, especially at places like Restoration Hardware.

Theirs are $199.00.

Each.

Ouch.

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So.

Have you succumbed to the letters-as-wall-art craze?

What about DIY marquee lights?

Any plans to tackle them in the new year?

I'd love to hear all about it.

And on a separate note, 

I can't believe the new year is here already.

Where DID 2014 go?

Happy New Year, friends!

  

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