Guest Author - Deb Bonam
Inspirational words are the object of affection for every writer. What writer doesn’t sit at their computer composing and reaching for the perfect adjective to describe their feelings? Words come to us out of a seemingly invisible open vastness that rains down on us and lifts us out of darkness. Special words inspire us all. Some inspirational words have universal empowering lightness to them that have a transformative air to them. Take the word “love” for example; in any language you write it, the word carries the same meaning. It makes people feel peacefulness and care for one another. It may even have romantic or religious undertones to it. It’s one little word, and yet the feelings it sparks when we see the word goes way beyond just the four letters L O V E. Since inspiring words are so powerful in affecting our moods and mindset, we need to incorporate those words in our surroundings. We can bless our homes creatively by decorating with inspirational words.
• There are several techniques you can use to bring words that inspire you into your home. The first method is to use stencils. Get the 3-inch A-Z letter stencils from your craft store. Purchase “No Drip” Blendable Paint Cream in colors of your choice and a packet of stencil brushes along with a sponge. Simply use your cream paints to fill in the stencil letters to spell out inspirational words on your wall. I didn’t use the paints, but used water-based PermapaqueR markers and stenciled at the top of my kitchen wall to create an interesting ‘word’ border over my cabinets and sink. I had words such as love, forgiveness, hope, karma, belief, joy, caring, transformation, reformation, non-judgment, God, Christ-like, goodness, optimism and open-minded. I placed the words diagonally, vertically, and straight across and painted every other word in one of two colors. When done, it looked like a word border at the top of my kitchen and was an eye-catcher when people visited my home.
• Another way of decorating with inspirational words is to purchase wooden letters that range between 5 to 9 inches tall with the average cost being around $2.25 a piece. This is a little more expensive, but will be very dramatic and you won’t have to worry about priming over and painting your wall if and when you change your decorating. These letters are paintable and stainable to match any décor. You can buy enough letters to spell out a few words that really speak to your soul and put them over your workstation, in your kitchen, bedroom or in your living room. Put inspirational words wherever you will see them the most every day! Maybe you want to put together a few words in order to have a phrase. Something like…”Go for it” or “Get it done!” Sit down, meditate if necessary and see what words come to mind for you. Then look around your home and see where you can incorporate a word or words in your décor that will be seen by you the most. If you don’t want to hang letters on your wall you can purchase a display ledge and mount the letters in a horizontal train-like fashion with wood glue. Just make sure you purchase letters that have a flat edge for a base.
• Another idea is to purchase a wooden plaque, which comes in all kinds or sizes and shapes (like oval or rectangle) in basswood and pine and use 3-inch tall cursive or print letters and mount a word or words on the plaque. Again, you can paint or stain them, whatever you like.
• There are Stick-ItRFelt Letters with adhesive backing that you can get crazy creative with and stick words on a lamp shade or stick them on Stick-ItR Felt Mounting Board and Frame it to make a colorful unique picture along with added decorative other tidbits of your choosing.
• There are big FoamieR Letters that are like hard sponges and come in pink, blue and green. Your children especially might like to decorate their rooms with these letters because it’s fun to add glitter and beads to them.
• Magnets on the refrigerator are not just for children; they are appropriate for all ages as whimsical ways to put together inspirational words in the kitchen, where most of us spend a lot of our time.
• I even found some funny air-filled 8-inch cardboard boxy letters that are super light weight and can be easily decorated with stickers, markers, paints, glitter, really anything you can think of using. You can run a string through them to formulate a word or words. Or you could glue letters together. They could even be stacked vertically.
Words really are incredibly powerful and if you can find a creative way to bring a few powerful words into your home you can inspire your own daily approach towards life.
