To the Letter of the Word

My son's name is Oliver. He's lucky he has the wall space of a bathroom in his room, or otherwise mommy would be covering it in cute Papyrus cards framed in cheap white Ikea frames. But when Oliver gets a bigger room, I know exactly what's going to be on the wall other than a whole lot of magnetic chalkboard paint (and it'll be way more personal than the adorable aforementioned Papyrus cards).





It's not hard, or spendy, to personalize your kid's room if you have just a little imagination. While visiting a small town that shall not be named (perhaps I should type it like they do in Jane Eyre or all those Austen novels...--shire...) , I happened to snap this photo, and it hit me. I can do more of this and make a really, really fun Oliver collage. We happen to live in a part of town in -shire that has a neighbourhood called Oliver, which naturally makes shooting Oliver signs really, really easy for us. We're planning on an excursion on the weekend if the weather holds, and by the end of the day, we ought to have a fabulous and eclectic (and hopefully colourful or textural) group of Oliver images that will someday grace his future big-boy room.



But what happens if your kid's name isn't Oliver? Or it is, and you don't live near the Oliver section of -shire? Well, you could buy my Oliver images off the webstore... Yes... But, don't limit yourself. Start looking for shapes that look like letters and spell out words. Like this. It's an S, get it? Get it? And you don't have to get all matchy matchy with colour, either. Just convert to black and white and play with the contrast until you get the look you're aiming for.

Lazy? Busy? No worries. These gals here have already done it for you. I recommend just buying the pics and not the frame-- it ain't hard to buy a frame (or frames) to go with your alphabet photography, and it's cheaper... not to put these girls out of business or anything... You'll also want to look at how your letters look together-- are they all dark, have you mixed your mediums and textures (rope, stone, iron, glass, that sort of thing...) and, are they all the same 'shade' of black and white? Keep in mind, kids, that not all blacks and whites are the same. Some are redder or bluer than others, and when you put them together, you'll wonder why it all looks a little off. I highly recommend the Alphabet Photography website, but I also recommend you take your time going through the galleries to get just the right balance of shapes, textures, and 'colour'.



My hubby and I have Y heart A framed up on our family wall (aka eclectic yet charming jumble o' family photos), as well as our 3-letter last name, and I'm working on selecting OLI for our wee Oliver. Or perhaps his initials. I can't decide which. (Yeah, I'm not industrious enough to go out hunting all those letter shapes when it's already been accomplished for me, and at such a reasonable price of just $5 a print... though unfortunately they don't do bigger than 4x6...)  Either way, Oliver's room will have a fabulous collage of Oliver images, and the family wall will bear all our names and such. I've also bought initials and hearts for wedding presents and anniversary presents. It's a really affordable and yet beautiful, personal way to celebrate somebody. So what are you waiting for? Pick up your camera and start looking for opportunities... or, if you're the busy sort, shop online. I've already given you two fun webstores to explore (Aimless Photography and Alphabet Photography) so you've got no excuse!