Cookie Tin Nursery Art

This is an idea I wanted to share with you because it's novel and so easy! The next time, you are in the cookie aisle at your favorite bulk food store, office supply store or dollar store, look for the cookies in large tins. You might  be interested in the tins of popcorn, too. Now, this is the part where you have to be discriminating. You'll want tin covers that feature a scene or toy from childhood. Once you've found what you want, purchase it. Go home and eat all those cookies or popcorn and hang the lid in your baby's nursery!

A Day With Friends

Sweet Teddy Bear

DIY Nursery Furniture ~ Imagine That!

Congrats on your pregnancy! Furniture is the most outstanding feature in any room, including a nursery. So, naturally you'll want to add furniture pieces that reflect your style. But why DIY? Hmmmm....it's less costly. Got your attention now! AND, it is so much more personal because YOU put the work into creating it. Of course, you could build the furniture but that's not necessary. Go to an unfinished furniture store. Check yard sales and secondhand stores. Or, hey, just check around your house for furniture that could be repurposed. A note of caution: The crib is the one piece of furniture that I would not advise purchasing secondhand. There have been recent changes in crib safety standards. Just because it worked well for you as a child or for anyone else's child, doesn't mean it will be safe enough for your baby. Safety is one area that you don't want to go cheap on. Check out these examples to get psyched and ready to create something special in your baby's nursery.

Striped Dresser and Painted Knobs

From: Kathy at All About Vignettes

Granny Square Ottoman Cover

                                 From: Anna at Anna Virginia Fashion

Land of Nod Inspired Floor Cushion

                                 From: Susan at Living With Punks

Painted Nursery Furniture

                            From: Kristen at Kristen F. Davis Designs

DIY Utility Bucket Ottoman

                                 From: Grace at Design Sponge
                          Credits to: Liz and Rachel at Commonwealth
                          and to Leland at Revive Upholstery & Design

HELLO  BIRDIE - Bird and Birch Dresser

                                   From: Kristy at 4 the love of WOOD

Toy Chest Transformation

                                       From: Nancy at life designed

Old Cabinet Turned New

                                      From: Nancy at life designed

Olly's Book Table

                                   From: Courtney at alittleglassbox

 I hope you've enjoyed these nursery furniture ideas. I am always amazed at the wonderful creativity and resourcefulness of others.

Create Nursery Labels ~ Organize!

 

Use Labels and Tags to Organize with Flair

Babies have a lot of stuff! Here's a fun way to organize in the nursery. Create labels for your boxes, bins and crates. All you need is either some card stock or sticker paper, a graphics program, a printer and your imagination! If you choose card stock, you will also need a hole puncher and something to attach your labels like Velcro tabs, ribbon, twine or metal rings plastic linking rings. To insure durability, you'll also want to laminate the labels. I really like the Self-Sealing Laminating Pouches from Scotch. No machine is needed for laminating when using the pouches.

Let's get started. Open your graphics program. I used Paint Shop Pro 7.  Create a new image 252 w x 180 h with a white background. Create your own graphic or add clipart. I used a drop shadow around the graphic for a bit of depth.  Now add some text. I used Broadway font also with a drop shadow. Merge all of your layers. I used the buttonize effect and of course, the drop shadow. The last thing I did was to add a border. I used a size 1.

Booties label

Binkys Label

Hair Bows Label

Red Binkys Label

                                Thanks to Webweaver's Free Clipart
                                 for the red binky graphic.

Shoes Label

Toys Label

Here are a few more labels I made. 

Wood Grain Hats Label

Wood Grain Toys Label

The wood grain labels were created using a wood grain texture and a chisel effect. Flood fill your white image with a wood grain texture. Insert your text. Flood fill the text with the same wood grain texture. Use the chisel effect (transparent option). The "Hats" label was made using the chisel effect twice. I finished them off using the buttonize effect and a black border.

Toys With Road Signs Background Label

This last label was created by placing small images onto the white background. I used the Paint Shop Pro picture tube tool. I merged the images into one layer and faded them. For the last layer, I chose the rounded edge rectangle and flooded it with white. Next I added my text and finished it off the same as the other labels.


Decide upon  the look you'd like. Experiment with fonts, colors and shapes, too. You could make some oval labels. Oooooh! Just had another idea! You could scan a bit of your patterned nursery fabric into the computer. Then, you could use that image as a background  for your labels!

One last thought: If you don't have a graphics program, try card stock (heavy weight paper), scrapbook paper and scrapbook embellishments. You can find these things at a craft store.  Have fun! Be creative!!

If you do some labels, share them with us here! It's always fun to see how others tweak an idea or change it entirely!

DIY Nursery Wall Decor

A nursery is special. It's a home for your baby. You chose a wall color, pick out furniture and bedding for the crib. But you don't stop there when you want to really personalize this space. Those blank walls are the perfect opportunity for you to express your love and creativity! Itching to get started but not sure what to do? Check out these ideas!

Frame Your Fabric

                                  See more great ideas from Katrina
                                           at Splash of Something.

Stenciled Wall

                                    See more great ideas from Sarah
                                            at Cozy. Cottage. Cute.

Pinwheel Art

                                    See more great ideas from Kelly
                                           at View Along The Way.
                                 You can find Kelly on Facebook, too!

Nursery Mural

                               See more great ideas from Suzanne
                         at SMALLCHANGES BIGIMPROVEMENTS.

Faux Mosaic Tiled Letters

                                 See more great ideas from Marzi
                                           at Made By Marzipan.
                                         Check out her Etsy Store

DIY Wall Art: Bubbles

                                    See more great ideas from Sara
                                          at MR. HANDSOMEFACE

Decoupage Tree

                   Find the Decoupage Tree tutorial at project nursery.
                                   See more great ideas from Katy                      
                                                at CADEN LANE.

DIY: No Sew Bunting Flags

                 Find the No Sew Bunting Flags tutorial at project nursery.
                  This nursery project is also from Katy at CADEN LANE.

DIY: Clothing Art for the Nursery

           Think about baby's going home outfit or baby's 1st portrait outfit.                         Find the Clothing Art tutorial at project nursery.
               See more great ideas from Morgan at Pepper Design Blog.

Embroidery Hoop Nursery Decor

                      See more great ideas from Caroline at Armelle.
                         Also check out her store, Armelle the shop.

 Themed and Framed Nursery Art

               See more great ideas from Ashley at Little Miss Momma.

Birth Stats Art

               See more great ideas from Tam at sew dang cute crafts.

Shadow Boxes

                     This idea is also from Tam at sew dang cute crafts.
                        Check out Tam's store, THE CHIC ORCHID.

DIY: Nail and String Letters

You could also add a small toy inside each letter such as a plush alligator  for "A" and a block or ball for "B".
See more great ideas from Jen at jk jk.
Check out Jen's Etsy Store.


Here's one more idea for you to consider. If your baby has siblings, frame some of their artwork for the nursery. It's a wonderful way for brothers and sisters to welcome the newest member of the family.
                                                  Idea Source

How have you decorated your baby's nursery wall?  Did these ideas inspire you? Did you do something totally different that you'd like to share with us?  Let's hear from you!

Free Printable Bookplates for Baby

Family Bonding With a Book

Without a doubt, one of the best and most important gifts you can give a baby is books. There are all kinds of books for baby. There are soft fabric books, vinyl bath books, block books, board books and hardback books. Create a "Baby's First Library" gift! Collect a few books of each type. Place them inside a small plastic tub with tissue paper and gift basket paper shred. You might even want to add some weighted bottom plush toys or stacked baby blocks as bookends. To make the hardback books a little more special, personalize them with bookplates.

Here are some free printable bookplates! The bookplates measure 3 ¼ in x 2 ¼ in. I was able to get 8 on a page by going to "Page Layout", "Margins", "Narrow".

Ready to Print!

Ready to save and print some bookplates? Click on each bookplate choice and save to your computer. Go to Word and insert each image onto your Word page.  Place sheets of sticker paper (found in craft or office supply stores) inside your printer according to the package directions. Then, print!

Bear Family Bookplate

ABC Bookplate

Basketful of Books Bookplate

Udderly Fun Bookplate

Goose Bookplate

Frog Bookplate

Giraffe Bookplate

Rocking Horse Bookplate

Open Book Bookplate

Baby's Toys Bookplate

If you have a graphics program, you can add the baby's name in any font or text color.

Enjoy!