Some businesses start themselves. A few years ago when Lauren Miller was pregnant with her first daughter, she had a fairly familiar idea. She wanted her little munchkin’s name displayed above her crib. However, the pricing she found online was $25 a letter plus shipping. Thinking this was too much, Lauren’s Little Letters was born.
“I decided I would try to make them to save myself some money,” Lauren says. As she recalls, “They came out perfectly,” so she did the same thing again when her son was born. “My friends started asking where I bought the letters from,” she says. “They were amazed when I told them I made them myself.”
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Starting Lauren’s Little Letters
Of course, requests from friends poured in, asking to design letters for all sorts of scenarios; from nurseries and basement movie theaters to schools, baby showers, bridal showers, weddings, birthday displays, and college dorm rooms. “Everyone encouraged me to start a business, saying that I had a great product,” Lauren says. Now she operates Lauren’s Little Letters out of her home in Cedar Grove.
Lauren’s Little Letters designs and creates custom wood letters for display or hanging in any room. Getting started is as easy as giving Lauren a theme or color scheme. Then, customers can either hand pick a design for each letter, or let Lauren handle it. Lauren, who handcrafts each letter, works closely with clients to ensure the letters match their vision. Allowing clients to be part of the creative process is just one advantage over traditional online letter makers; many of which only allow clients to choose from predetermined themes. “I use a ton of creativity for each design and every name is 100-percent unique,” Lauren explains.
Designing Letters
To aid in the process, Lauren suggests sending her pictures of the room; this allows her to factor in paint color, wallpaper, bedding, and other room decor. “Even the same theme can look completely different from one name to another based on room decor,” she says. For instance, one client asked for a jungle/safari theme. But while some online searches present green trees and bright orange lions, others include shades of grays, blacks, and whites. “The more information a client provides, the better match the letters are,” Lauren says.
Likewise, even similar themes can produce different results. Take two solar system themes she has done: The first was a black sky with colorful planets. But for the second one, Lauren used a blue sky based on the client’s blue sheets in her child’s room. Other themes include dinosaurs, floral, movie theater, transportation, construction, tie dye, baseball, and even school mascots. Click here to see some of her designs.
Lauren’s Little Letters offers local pick-up and delivery, but letters can also be shipped nationally. To learn more or ask about pricing: Follow her on Instagram | Click here to send her an email.
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All Photos: © Lauren’s Little Letters
