DIY Monograms, using Open Office

A couple of months ago I created a black and white monogram on Microsoft Paint and used it for my aisle runner and unity candle. The monogram did it's job, but it really wasn't the prettiest, and, I'll be honest, I was starting to get a bit jealous of monograms that I have seen online from other brides that were in color. Sadly, I thought a color monogram or one with fancy overlapping letters wasn't in my future, because everyone else that had that type of monogram reported that they made it with Microsoft Publisher. I love Microsoft Office, I have nothing against them, and I have sworn by Word and PowerPoint for years. The only problem is, my new laptop doesn't have Microsoft Office, and I can't justify spending several hundred dollars on a software suite when I have a wedding to pay for.

Enter today. I was checking my message boards, as I usually do, and someone posted a tutorial on how to make a monogram using PowerPoint. Now I can get somewhere. For anyone that doesn't know, Open Office is a free software suite that includes a word processing program, presentation software, spread sheets, and other stuff that I haven't even had a chance to explore yet. It's the program that I have been using for my invitation and stationary templates, and now I figured out how to use it for monograms too! Happy day.

What you need:

• Open Office 

What you do:

1. Once you have downloaded open office, open up "Open Office.org Impress" this is the presentation software.
2. Create a plain slide with no background or template.
3. Use the draw feature (bottom tool bar) to create a text box, enter your letter here. Now you can use the text features to change the font, size, and color of your letter.
4. Repeat two more times with each letter of your monogram, the order should be your first initial, his last initial, and his first initial. Traditionally, the middle initial is the largest.
5. If you select a letter (with the arrow from the draw tool bar) and right click on it, one of the options is to "arrange." I did this on my middle initial and moved it to the back, this way my first and last letters can easily overlap.
6. Now for the tricky part, press the "PrtSc" button on your keyboard (print screen), and open up Microsoft Paint.
7. Click the "paste" button in Paint, you should now have a screenshot of your monogram.
8. Use the select feature in Paint to crop your monogram.
9. Save your monogram as a .jpg file. Voila, monogram!

It sounds like a lot of steps, but it really is easy, and addicting. I made four of them in about an hour. I have no idea where I am going to use them all, but I am sure with my ever increasing mountain of stationary I will find uses for everything.