Nursery Decor

I thought I'd share some of Gavin's "Grandma-made" nursery décor.  'Cause for sure, he needs his name as the above-the-crib-nursery centerpiece.  As a reminder, his nursery/bedding is a jungle-theme.  (You might also remember seeing these same letter as shower décor doing double-duty.)

I'm not gonna lie, these took me a few days to finish.  I bought unfinished, light-weight letters, because after all, they do hang above the crib.  This project would have been so much easier & faster if I had splurged on white wooden letters, but where would the fun be in that?  I decoupaged them and WOW! did they turn out great.

How To Make Them:

• Paint the edges of the letters any color you like.  I spray-painted mine white.  I also painted the backs for a more finished look. 
• Place letter backwards on back side of paper and trace outline.
• Cut letter shape out of paper.
• Apply thin coat of Mod Podge to letter and align paper letter on top, smoothing down. Let dry.
• If there is excess paper hanging off the edges of letter, either trim with scalpel (or scissors) or you can smooth edges down with a fine grit sandpaper.
• Apply at least two thin coats of Mod Podge, allowing each one to dry completely before applying the next. Make sure to seal the edges. I brushed the coats in two opposite directions to get a "cross-hatched" finish.
• Hot glue animal accents.
• Add decorative ribbon for hanging.  Tie bow/knot at top.

What You Need:

• Craft Paper Letters (I got mine @ JoAnn's)
• Patterned Paper (I downloaded 5 digital animal paper(s) and printed on the colored printer 11" x 17")
• Mod Podge
• Tools:  Scalpel, Scissors, Pencil, stapler
• Foam Brush
• Animal décor (also from JoAnn's)
• Glue gun
• Gross grain ribbon

One more last look:

My dear daughter, April, and I had such a fun time with the nursery décor.  I give it about 7 months.  Then it will become a disaster zone.