Decorating with Baby Names

By Daniel Dessinger

January 27, 2008

Here is a different take on a popular idea. In children’s rooms and nurseries around the globe, a good majority of parents seem to agree on a single detail. Letters that spell the child(ren)’s name are hung up on the wall. Usually the letters are wooden and painted to match the room’s theme. Either the parents paint the letters themselves or are purchased pre-colored.

I also considered this idea when my daughters were born, but I did not want to pay the ridiculous cost for the wooden letters. Even the unpainted ones were pretty expensive, especially if the child’s name has a lot of letters.

For my first daughter, I crocheted small (5”x5”) pillows and “cross-stitched” a single letter upon each pillow and used different colored ribbons to hang them. This made it personal and did not cost nearly as much as the wooden letters. For my second daughter, I used scrap fabrics to create pillowed letters of her name and again used different colored ribbons to hang them.

If you happen to not be as handy with a needle or hook, there are certainly many more methods out there so that you can personalize these decorations. Wallpaper sample books are usually tossed out or given away by DIY-type stores. Stencil out the letters you wish to have and using a hobby knife cut out the letters from coordinating patterns and/or colored samples. They could be hung using ribbons or thumbtacks. The same stenciling method could be used on colorful magazine pictures or even photographs. These cut-outs could be then inserted to matching pictures frames and hung on the wall.

Once you have an idea of what basic materials you want to use, do not be afraid to explore. Beads, sequins, gemstones, pearls, ribbon, buttons, silk flowers, or chain links could be added to spice up the lettering. Taking a walk through a hobby shop could provide great ideas. Creativity comes to everyone, inspiration drives it.