Nursery DIY: Name letters
Since we want the nursery to be done by the end of next week, that was the final push to finish the hanging nursery letters with the baby’s name.
These letters have been the bane of my existence.
You see, I’m not a crafty person.
But, when I found out that ordering the hanging letters for the baby’s name was going to be $176 + shipping, suddenly I became crafty. I was determined to do it myself, since that is a ridiculous amount of money to spend on wood and ribbon.
So I went out and bought my own wood and ribbon.. and paint…
and got to work.
I painted the wood letters in alternating colors (or you can do all in one color)
and after they dried, we painted little designs
based on the patterns in her nursery.
I sealed the letters using a satin paint finish (Martha Stewart) –it’s similar to a clean topcoat for nails- let them dry, and then crazy-glued the ribbon onto the back of the letters and knotted the top.
As far as the bows go, that’s where the tricky part came in.
I watched *this video* about 4 times, and used her technique for making the bottom transparent bow, secured with wire to the hanging ribbon.
I just made a regular ol’ bow out of gold ribbon
and secured that to the bottom bow (by threading the wire through the back of the gold bow and twisting around the back of the brown bow.
Making the first brown bow was a breeze, and now I’m having a bit of a rough time and my fingers continue to get tangled up. I’ve made one more… 5 left to go…
The only thing that makes me excited to finish them is the thought of them hanging on the wall, and the sweet little baby sleeping in her crib.
Grand total:
$53.63!
Even if you account for the time I’ve spent (including dilly-dallying and procrastination) curse words and do-overs, not too shabby.
Are you crafty? What’s the last thing you DIY-ed?
Edited to say: I deleted the comments that had the baby’s name in them, because I am a goober and can’t believe I accidentally spilled the beans! Wow. hahaha
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For someone who claims to not be crafty those letters look awesome! I consider myself a little bit crafty and recently made by best friend a pinata from scratch, which I was pretty proud of once complete.
amazing!! did you post a pic?
Beautiful! I painted a painting for my daughters room based of her bedding 🙂
The letters turned out so pretty! I can’t wait to see how they look on the wall. 🙂
Also, this post contains some clues as to what the name is!
Letters we know: ILAI
Number of letters: 7 (you finished two bows and have 5 left)
It’s likely that you started the bows on the first letter of the name; the pictures of the bow are on the letter “A”.
So I’m going to guess that her name is Abigail!
the i’s will have to be every other, I assume that’s how the pattern goes, so it can’t be Abigail
oops I think I totally counted wrong haha the colors could work with Abigail!
Did you notice that the letters are printed on the receipt you posted? 🙂
Do you realize that you are sharing her name by sharing your receipt?
Girl, I was thinking the same thing! Just wanted you to realize.
i just updated the post. wow, hahaha
my face is red and i’m cracking up over here
It’s okay. It’s a secret. : )
thank you friend 🙂
Must be because of the “pregnancy brain” that everyone talks about! 😉
my brain is on vacay haha
Haha! I was just thinking I wonder if she realized that she put the letters up, and then was like nahh she totally knew it and thought it was on purpose! Love the name 🙂 !
LOVE love love the name!! At first I was like “Wait, Viola??” haha.
Also, PS you have to pay 9.1% taxes? That is crazysauce!!!
We have to pay 12% up here in Manitoba!
In Alberta tax is only 5%!
i’m moving. haha
Try Ontario…it’s worth the drive over the border to Buffalo!
two I’s?! shoot, now i’m stumped. all of my previous guesses are out!
what a cute project. can’t wait to see the finished nursery.
Girl you just spilled the beans on the name 😉 I love it!
i did! i can’t believe i did that.. i even proofread the post twice
LOVE the name (it’s my nieces middle name)… i gasped when I saw the receipt hehe – the secret shall remain a secret 😉
Don’t worry, it’s a secret 😉 beautiful name though, I absolutely love it!!
But…..if it’s Olivia, and the colors are alternating, then the two “i”s would be the same color….right?
Perhaps we are overthinking this!
yes, and the L and A would be the same color. and there are 7 bows.
yep, 7 bows
bows of anger. making these things is killing me haha
OMG. Bows of Anger. I loooove it!
Wait…this comment hasn’t been deleted…if this isn’t the name I am TOTALLY stumped. Ha!
Yeah now it’s driving my crazy LOL.
Shhh!! We’ll keep it a secret! 😉
thank you 🙂
Tooooo funny! I thought you did it on purpose! That’s ok~I love keeping a secret! It is safe with me! Congrats!
thank you! not on purpose at all.. i’m still laughing over here at my spaciness
and thank you for secret-keeping
I missed the actual receipt pic, but if it is the O-name that is honestly the first thing that popped into my head when I saw those letters! Very gorgeous, just like your crafties 🙂
I am a fairly crafty person…I knit, and most recently I made book pumpkins! I think you can find them on Pinterest…you basically rip the cover off a paperback, cut it into a half-pumpkin shape, then glue a stick inside the binding and glue the front/back pages together to make a round shape. stick a bow on it and voila…nerdy decor !
that sounds so cute!
I love them! I can’t wait to see them in the nursery- I love the bedding you chose.
I used to be pretty crafty, but I seemed to have lost that somewhere…
This is what happens when I multi-task, missed the secret!
same! and I’m impatient!
(ps, the letters look gorgeous, Gina!)
I love the name…it’s been my guess since you showed us the four letter sample :). Can’t wait until your little one is born and we can hear for real with a picture of her accompanying it!!
thank you!
Damn, I missed it! 🙁
Just so you know, the original receipt picture still shows up in my google reader. So I didn’t miss it! But it may still show up for others.
This is bunk. I saw this comment, got all excited, ran over to my reader, but it was already updated with the new receipt. Dang it!!! So, I think you’re safe in Reader, too. 🙂
I am totally protective of my baby girl name that I’ve loved for about 10 years. So, I’ll be just as secretive as you about it. 🙂
You still have the photo uploaded to the web……..found it;)
you are a tricky girl haha. thanks for letting me know so i could delete it
I used to do websites for my job. I found out quickly that people will try ANYTHING to find out information, even typing in random web addresses for items that aren’t linked anywhere. Glad I could help:)
🙂
The picture is still on google reader too! I’ve never seen that name spelled with 7 letters though…so now I don’t know what the name is! 🙂
BTW, the nursery decorations are lovely!
You’re not crafty? Girl you could’ve fooled me! They look great! 🙂
thanks, girl!
I caught it! Soooo cute but *shhhhhhh*
Well now I’m totally dying since I missed the name slip! Ah! Guess I’ll just have to wait like everyone else 🙂 The nursery/letters all looks bee-yoo-tee-ful so far!
I’m still leaning towards Jillian (or maybe Gillian?)!
I didn’t catch it, and while I’m curious, I can certainly wait. Her nursery looks beautiful. Letters looks great. No Craft Skillz over here is supes impressed.
So sad i missed it, i guess i am about 10 minutes too late 🙁
I’m tres sad that I missed the slip-up…but now you have a lot of people intrigued. All the more reason for sticking around 😉
Missed the slip! I’m still holding loyal to my original guess! I’ll just have to wait until little nugget is born!
The letters are absolutely gorgeous! I can’t wait to see it all put together:)
I can’t believe I missed it! I read the post when you had both pictures up, too! I had thought it was going to Liyla but I guess not with 7 letters.
I AM SO MAD I MISSED IT. LOL.
I’m frustrated! I was all set on Alicia and then realized it only has 6 letters.
Alivia? Also 6.
I’m convinced there are no 7 letter girl names starting with A that contain L I I. Okay, so apparently there are, but I can’t figure it out! Haha
I am trying to figure this out too! I’m thinking Abigail. Or Leilani?
Just in case either of those is correct, I haven’t seen the OG receipt. I’m bummed, I’m dying of curiosity about the Baby-ista!
hey there, i was just thinking that you might want to consider using a staple gun in addition to just gluing the ribbon to the wood. i know sometimes over time glue can get weak, and if it’s over her bed or anything you might want to do that to make sure a letter doesn’t fall off and hurt your little gal.
just a thought!
i think we’re going to nail them on with tiny nails just to reinforce it- thanks for the reminder!
Another good idea might be that tacky/sticky stuff that doesn’t damage walls you could put on a few places on the backs of the letters in addition to nails? Always better safe than sorry of course 🙂 Or velcro if you don’t care about your walls haha i did that and it lasted 4 years and counting… Think I know the name if so GORGEOUS 🙂 Not surprised, leave it to you to come up with the cutest name for the mini fitness diva-cita!
Lillian ?! sad i missed the pic with the name!
Oooh!!! Good guess!
The last crafty thing I did was making photography related light bounces and light reflectors to help with late afternoon/evening photography. $10 bucks and Michaels craft store and I’m a happy girl 🙂
Your letters look great!!! You look like a crafty DIY pro to me!
Argh. Missed it. The letters are beautiful though 😉
So so sooo cute!!! LOVE the letters! And I missed the bean-spill! Oh shoot! Guess I’m going to have to wait!!
Michaels floral department will make bows for a small fee..just sayin! Lol
Ahh I missed it too! When are you going to spill the beans and tell us?!?
when she’s born 🙂
AHHHH so cute. I’ve been DIY-ing a LOT in my dorm lately, I’ve redone some boxes and made them into adorable storage units, and I even made a pillow. Gettin thrifty!
Yay! I found the receipt pic!! Cute!
You are totally crafty. I’m impressed. Sometimes, when I look at the amazing stuff that my grandmother and her sisters make (hand crocheted blankets?), I kind of feel sad that these skills are dying out as women get too busy and rely on pre-made things.
SO MAD I MISSED IT!!! I really want to be in the secret name knowing club!
Me too. 🙁
me three 🙁
They came out great!! Good job!
i missed it! but actually i kind of like being surprised sooo i can’t wait for the actual day of birth hahah. my guess is still felicia ! 🙂
Last thing I DIY-ed was for our wedding. I did all of our centerpieces, favors, and personal decorations. It was the best part, I loved doing it and having memorabilia afterwards.
Going crazy over here, but it will be that much more exciting at the big reveal when she’s born:)
Mikaila, Lillian, and Jillian are the only ones I can think of at the moment…
All guessing aside, the letters look fabulous! What a lucky little lady:)
Missed the name! Cant wait to be surprised! Haha! Those letters are beautiful!!
The letters look beautiful! I don’t think of myself as being crafty, but others think I am. The last thing I made was the oldest boy’s costume. He wanted to be a character from Kingdom Hearts, but we couldn’t find one locally. Online they were to expensive and fabrics that he doesn’t like. So I looked at some pictures, cut and sewed him one out of fleece. Turned out nice he wrote it, but now that Halloween’s over he won’t wear it again because the arms are a little tight. I’m going to make adjustments to it for my 6 year old nephew and make him a new one.
Ahhhhh! I can’t believe I missed it ( but in a weird way, I’m glad – I want to find out when she’s born! Hahah, can you tell I don’t like surprises ruined and Christmas presents opened early? 😉 ) I’m guessing Leliana (sp?), but it makes sense that’d you work on the first letter first. So I’m stumped! They looks beautiful though!
you are too cute! what a great idea…and i am not crafty neither is lori we are hopeless, haha
Still guessing about the name…missed the oops! The mystery is still alive!
OH MAN! I wish I had looked earlier to see the name! I think you are very crafty! Those letters look awesome. If I had done something like that, let us just say they would not be hanging on any walls any time soon.