Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Monogramming a Double Last Name

Hello! My name is Annaliese, but I blog under my initials as Miss ALK. I’m originally from Maine, but currently attending college in the beautiful city of Charlotte, NC. I run a fashion and lifestyle blog called Southern Belle in Training. I was so honored when I was asked to be a guest poster for the Carolina Clover blog, as a I am a huge fan of their company and products! (You can read a product review post that I did for Carolina Clover on my own blog here.)
   
     Since Carolina Clover is primarily a monogram shop, I wanted to write about something related to monograms. The first thing that came to my mind is how I was unsure of how to make my own monogram for quite some time because I have a double last name. Traditional monograms often look like this: aBc, with a being the first name, B being the last name, and c being the middle name. Since I have a double last name, I don't have a middle name. Both of my last names are of equal importance to me, so I never knew which one to place in the the middle! I thought that since I had been given a double last name (something that was out of my control), monogramming was out for me. Well, I'm pleased to report how that couldn't be further from the truth! I have discovered that there are lots of ways to monogram with a double last name, perhaps even more then with one last name. Here are some of the ways that I've chosen to express my initials in style:


1.                Classic order (aka blogging name): As I stated above, I have a double last name but no middle name, so I still have three initials. My first initial is A, and my last two initials are L-K, so my initials read as ALK. You can choose to monogram things in a traditional initial order with all letters capitalized (instead of the aBc format) and still have it look great! Here's a tumbler cup that I have that has my initials on it in an all capital format. I love this cup and use it all the time!

     I also having been putting a "Miss" in front of my initials for awhile, and that's how I got my blogging name! I love my blogging name so much that I put it on the license plate of my car. :-) Here's a throwback picture of the day that I got my car's license plates back during my senior year of high school! 

     2. Single letter: You can also monogram lots of things using just your first initial! Jewelry is an especially popular way to do this. Here's a picture of one of my favorite letter "A" necklaces. I( love how it's written in a fancy script that almost makes it look like it's a full monogram from further away!)


     Carolina Clover sells lots of single initial jewelry options similar to the one that I'm wearing above, so you'll definitely want to check out what they have to offer! 
     And jewelry certainly isn't the only option out there for monogramming with one letter! The options truly are endless. Some other things that I've had with letter A include key chains, cosmetic bags, wall decorations, stationery, school supplies and many more items. The phrase "If it isn't moving, monogram it!" especially applies to single letter monogramming since it's so easy! 

     
     3. Trying the traditional monogram: The last option is using your double last name in the traditional aBc format. This means that you have to pick one of your last names to be the center letter. When I make my initials go into this format I use the K as the capitalized letter, so ALK becomes aKl. But since L is also my last name I could also do aLk, that's the beauty of a double last name I guess! ;-) I do have one monogram necklace in the traditional format, pictured below:


     So there you have it! Monogramming with a double last name is not only possible, but is actually full of options! Carolina Clover has such an excellent selection of monogram gifts no matter what your last name is, so I would highly encourage you to visit them for all of your monogramming needs. 

     Thank-you so much to Kellie at Carolina Clover for letting me guest post today! It was a pleasure to write, and I hope that y'all will come visit me over at my personal blog, Southern Belle in Training! You can also find me on Instagram: @miss_alk



     xoxo Miss ALK (or Miss aKl ;-) )