Monday, October 4, 2010

The Alphabet (I need your input!).

I'm desperate to start playing nursery - but am feeling kind of stuck, as we still need a lot of stuff (glider, bookcase, rug, crib mattress are the big things). Meanwhile, I've been assuaging the nesting instinct by crocheting a baby blanket and a cute hat and infant mittens.

I've seen some really nice alphabet collections on nursery design websites - where people have collected letters from different places and made a very eclectic grouping on the wall. I love that.

Here's an example of what I mean, from the great site Project Nursery:Isn't that awesome? I love how colourful it is. BUT - I'm not sure I have the time (or budget) to go that route - imagine, if each letter costs between $5 and $10, that's $130-260, and if it ends up being hard to find, say, a Q and a Z, I'm left with an incomplete alphabet. If I go with eBay or other online shopping for letters, add 26 x shipping to that cost and it really gets prohibitive.

So my big idea was to do the alphabet in cursive, in wire. I picked up some galvanized wire at the hardware store (a whopping $3.47) and spent some time watching tv and bending wire. Here's how it turned out:

I left the switchplate in the photo for scale - it's pretty big! Don't mind the tape; I'd like to make sure my husband's with me on this one (he liked the collected alphabet idea, not so keen on the wire one going by my description) before I hang it - after all, he has to live with it, too. You really can't get a sense of the colour on the wall by this photo, either - it's not a greyish pinky yellow at all. It's Behr's Tiddley Pom (from their Disney collection), and it's a very, very pale and almost neutral yellowy-green.

The other thing I was thinking of doing was getting my husband to spray paint it. I was thinking bright, shiny red, but could go with another colour (it would be fun to do the rainbow colours, one for each row, but I'm not sure I really want to buy 5 cans of spray paint just for this).

What do you think -
  • Spray paint (colour ideas?) or leave it?
  • Should I abandon the wire idea, and - sucks to the budget - try for a collection?
  • Should I give up on both and pick up an alphabet print from some Etsy seller (like FancyPrints or Ink Tree Press) and frame it Ikea style? (again, a pricier option)
update: see the finished alphabet & nursery here!

12 comments:

  1. Nope, I really like it! I also like the idea of painting it too.
    What about framing it? You could add a background color and the frame might "complete" it? I'm not such a decorator though so it might not work out in the end haha!

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  2. I love how this looks!! I like the fram idea CanadianMama mentioned, you could make your own frome since they aren't cheap

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  3. It looks awesome! I don't think I could have bent wire into such pretty script! You did an awsome job!

    And, this is just me, but I probably would leave it as is. I think it looks great in the picture without the paint.

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  4. oh what a fun idea- that's adorable!

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  5. that is sooo cute! you did an awesome job! I'm for a bright pretty color if that is what you are shooting for the theme of the nursery. I would try to incorporate the main colors that you are wanting in the nursery to match your alphabet. You'll have to show pictures when you finish it!

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  6. I love it, and I say keep it (and the frame is great idea!). You can always start collecting letters now as you see them, and redecorate later (or use them for the 2nd kid's room - ha!). And I bet you'll be amazed at how quickly you find letters once you start looking for them!

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  7. I would keep the cursive alphabet; it looks great! The spray paint idea sounds cool...

    Such an awesome blog! :-) I love it -- great post!

    Alex

    Psst: Come check out my charity blog:
    http://www.idealcharity.blogspot.com/
    Please become a follower! ;-)

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  8. I love it! Wow. Really. Wow.
    I like it as is but think it would look equally nice painted. I'd say do it an accent color to go with the rest of the nursery if you're going to paint it.

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  9. I love it! Lovely script. I like the idea of framing for a a splash of color and drawing attention to it from your description of the wall color.

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  10. I like it. I think it would look great on a bright wall. My kids have a green room and that would make it pop.

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  11. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS... did u use it?

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  12. I did! I will post a shot of it in the nursery soon :)

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