CasaCullen

Oh, Baby: DIY Nursery Decor - How to Make Wall Art from Dictionary Pages and Greeting Cards

So our baby is almost 4 months old and we're still posting about his nursery updates from before he was born. Umm, yes...we call this, embarrassing. But better late than never and we actually are really smitten with our affordable and fun wall art choice for Nash's set of 6 white IKEA frames. We honestly had no idea what we were going to showcase in these frames and we threw out numerous different ideas.

Finally we were shopping nine days before Nash was born on South Congress in Austin and stumbled into one of our favorite stores, Uncommon Objects. I showed Walt some of the hilarious cards they had on display that I was contemplating framing for Nash's nursery. He immediately loved the idea so we picked out six together. Seriously, if someone would've told me this would be one of my last excursions with just my husband, I would've laughed...as we all know, Nash had other plans (more on that HERE.)

Keep reading for the easy DIY tutorial on how we added personalized wall art to Nash's room from a dictionary and printed greeting cards.

How the frames remained in his nursery for months. Hung, but nothing was in them! I actually loathe doing that...but we just couldn't make a decision on what we wanted!

Then I stumbled upon this massive dictionary at Savers (thrift store) and knew we were going to do something creative with the pages. Walt is a huge reader and looks forward to reading both TO and WITH Nash in the future. Yes we already read him books and he's hilarious cute and tries his best to pay attention...but I do hope Nash gets the obsessive reading gene from Walt, because I'm just not a huge reader like he is.

Frames removed from the wall so we could fill 'em up!

Ripped out Dictionary pages and using our straight edge cutter to remove the frayed edges.

We created a four page backdrop behind each mat. We overlapped the pages and even loved the tiny pictures that were highlighted on most pages too. Walt was searching for the best pictures to showcase. He had fun doing that.

Then we cut that back off the antique looking greeting cards and taped them on top of our Dictionary page collage and voila, instant baby wall art that's interesting and focuses on learning.

The man was hard at work...only days before Nash's arrival. Little did he know how close he was to being a Daddy!

Showing off the 'cup cake' finished product...LOVE IT!

Deciding where to put them on Nash's wall.

Done and done!

He surely is our little love bug!

So we have up there, starting on the upper left and moving clockwise; sweetie pie, love bug, teddy bear, cup cake, puppy love and monkey boy! LOVE THESE SO MUCH!

DIY: How to Make Easy Initial Wall Art

Our obsession with easy DIY wall art continues. Seriously, we are obsessed and are happy to admit it. Today's project is super easy but packs a creative punch. Using a wooden letter, favorite frame and some scrapbook paper...you can create a piece of wall art announcing an initial. We made this piece for a good friend's new little addition. We thought it would look great in his tiny man nursery! Read on for the tutorial and enjoy!

The frame we snagged at Michael's with our 40% off coupon.

Just making sure our wooden letter T would fit inside the frame. You want to make sure the frame has a bit of a shadow box effect, meaning it's depth is enough to fit your wooden letter.

Spray painted wooden T.

We had some leftover boyish scrapbook paper from our nursery closet organizer project HERE and I let Walt pick the background for this particular piece. I was leaning more towards the waves or grass but Walt kept saying the bricks were a really strong choice. So, we went with the bricks and I loved the way it turned out!

Tracing onto the scrapbook paper the correct size of the backdrop.

Looking good!

Using our high tech attachment protocol, ha!

Packaging tape...always does the trick!

Close up!

The finished product! Just think of all the awesome combos you can create with a frame, wooden letter, some spray paint and a great scrapbook backdrop! Love this super easy project! We were also saying how awesome it would look to frame each letter of a word (ie: "H-E-L-L-O") on a wall too! Or maybe a baby's name? Cha-ching! The ideas are limitless but if you tackle it, make sure to shoot us a picture via CasaCullen@Gmail.com

Oh, Baby: DIY Nursery Decor - How to Make Your Own 'Made In Texas' Wall Art

Today we're featuring another fun DIY wall art project we tackled for Nash's nursery. We always loved all the 'made in' signs we spotted all over the place but as soon as I spotted this star covered canvas at our local thrift store, I knew we had a DIY project up our sleeves! Read on for the tutorial!

SCORE! $4.99 at my local Savers Thrift!

Sketched out the words made and in on contact paper that we had laying around from our laundry room makeover HERE. 

Cut them out and stuck them on the canvas.

Found a map of Texas on my iPhone and free handed it onto the contact paper too.

The finished product, pre-paint. Look at all those pencil marks, ha! It was actually really hard to get a good Texas!

Now Walt went to work spraying the whole canvas with black spray paint.

We let the paint dry overnight and I was literally giddy to rip off the contact paper and see how the project turned out. We figured we'd only be $4.99 in the hole if it was horrible. And then we'd use it regardless, because you know how we like to cover old canvases in fabric (more on that HERE!)

Peeling off the letters and we're lookin' good, people!

Creating our Austin star!

And voila, I'm in love.

Walt measuring where to hang our new art.

Check out how adorable it is in Bubba's little room!

Here's a closer look! Love this project and you could totally wrap a canvas in a star print fabric and do the same exact project for you wee one. I also think this doesn't have to only fall into the nursery art category...this would be a great piece of art in a living room art gallery display or a perfect conversation piece for your kitchen. 

Oh, Baby: DIY Nursery Decor - How to Make Your Own Closet Dividers

Guess who has fancy little closet organizers? Our Nash! I kept spotting them online and in stores but gawked at the price tag. I knew there wold be an easy DIY option. And there was. When I stumbled upon THIS example over on Pinterest (follow us HERE) I knew this was the project for us. So I set out to grab up the materials we didn't already own and we spent our last Sunday morning, the day before Nash was born, making his closet organizers. Read on for the instructions and how-to.

Grabbed some wooden O's from Hobby Lobby for $.99/pair.

Walt wanted to spray paint them white...now I wish we would've chosen a more contrast-y color. But I'm always thankful for his opinion and help.

Spray painting the wooden O's.

Scrapbook paper, enough to cover each side of the O's.

Tracing time. We did this while watching Sunday church online. It was a dreary and cold morning, perfect for three C's: crafting, coffee, church!

Taking form!

The preservative. How we attached said scrapbook paper to the wooden O divider.

First painted the O with the podge.

Then used my finger to secure the paper to the mod podge surface. Use your finger and smooth out any bumps right away.

Then I painted over the entire piece of paper with Mod Podge to seal it on. Oh, I just have to point out my lil' hairy helper in my sweatshirt...funny pup!

Walt was on tracing/cutting duty and he was such a smarty pants. Why? The engineer in him knew that each side tracing was a bit different so he labeled them like this for me. I'd match up the numbers for correct placement before Mod Podging them on. It was really helpful to keep them organized.

Our makeshift drying rack...door knobs!

What was I noshing on during all this pre-labor work? Our homemade granola (scrumptious recipe HERE) of course! If someone told me I would have a baby in less than 48 hours from this moment...I would've laughed in their face, ha!

Oh no she didn't! (Said in my Real Housewives of Atlanta voice, ha! You know you watch it, don't even lie!) Zola fell asleep on the job, yo! At least we had our internet church to keep us crafting along.

Finished products, sans numbers! LOVE THEM! We chose pseudo boy themed scrapbook paper for our dividers. I can only imagine the cuteness level you could do for a little girl too.

Adding the numbers...

0, 3, 6, 9 and 12! That should just about cover all his hanging clothes for a while!

Fast forward weeks later and I finally had the chance to add those dividers into his closet! Look WHO was spotted, in his crib, in a chair! Nasher Doodle Doo...snoozing away! Actually, my Mom and I were cleaning up the nursery after Nash's cousin Minnie 'broke it in' while staying with us! 

In the closet, I die at the cuteness level! Such an easy, fun and crafty project. And a great way for him to not only be organized but also learn his numbers and match up clothes sizes, etc. Ok, maybe that won't even happen but a Mom can dream, right? 

Oh, Baby: Nursery Decor - Inexpensive Wall Art Additions from IKEA and Urban Outfitters

How awesome is this? Hahaha! Today we're giving you a sneak peek at some more nursery wall art, that we've added on the fly, that didn't break the bank. Two pieces that make us smile and we know our lil' man will just love (or be reminded of) too. Read on for how/where we scored these sweet deals. 

We scored this awesome Hammerpress print from Urban Outfitters for half off. I literally stared at it for about ten minutes and couldn't decide if I wanted to spend $17 on it, or not. Then I realized how ridiculously frugal I was being and how much it absolutely made me smile. So before I had a chance to talk myself out of it, I quickly raced to the register and busted out my wallet. Done and done! It was the only one on sale and was totally meant for his room.

Here's a snippet about Hammerpress...a company I love.

We scored this great frame from Michael's on super sale...it was only $11. So in total, this piece of wall art only set us back about $30, so worth it.

Why I love Hammerpress! Little nuggets of pressed paper goodness and you can actually see how the print is raised, very cool!

Walt trimmed the edges for us and it fit perfectly in our new frame. Love this!

And here's the image in all its nursery hanging glory. It's sitting above two storage ottomans and a tray (more on that HERE) in the corner of this nursery.

Here's the other piece of wall art we've added. We spied this at IKEA when my parents were here but they didn't have any more in stock. I waited a few weeks and Walt popped by when he was near our IKEA and low and behold, they had it. It's a $10 piece and totally great, right? So worth it! We'll have to name her something extra special...like Mabel. Other suggestions are being accepted.

And I love how the cow print actually sits off the wall like a museum piece. It comes with these great brackets already attached for super easy wall mounting. That made Walt super happy, of course. 

Here's a sneak peek at where we are. We still DO have so many other ideas we'd like to tackle before his arrival but it's coming, fast and furiously. We know his nursery will always be a work in progress and we hope to share the room, in its entirety, next week. Maybe in a video and multiple picture form so get ready for that. We have a few more creative projects up our sleeves that we'll tackle (in the next few days) and share soon but then we're hunkering down nad just enjoying the space, for now.

Oh, Baby: DIY Nursery Decor - How to Make Your Own Changing Table Topper

So I've always known that I wanted a changing table topper for lil' man's nursery. I just didn't want to pay the price. I started checking them out online at Pottery Barn Kids and I liked the Kendall version HERE (and above) for $119. One hundred and nineteen dollars, ummm...no thanks. I knew we could DIY it for much less but I just wasn't sure how inexpensively we could do it. Since we have so much scrap wood and goodies laying around in the man cave...then when you pair this with Walt's ingenuity, the final price was a whopping - FREE! Keep reading for the full story!

So one night I was heading out to my women's group at church and Walt asked me if there was anything I'd like him to do on the nursery while I was gone. I hate and love this question. On one hand, it's the sweetest question in the world. On the other hand, it means I won't be here to document (aka: take pics) whatever cool transformation/project my man opts to tackle. On this night, I decided to show him the Kendall changing table topper picture and this was the convo that followed.

Walt: Oh, that's so easy! I can have that done before you get home!

Me: You have got to be kidding me. Are you serious? We have everything you need?

Walt: Yeah, I'll just use some of that old plywood and some old wood I have.

Me: Wait, but will it look good or ghetto.

Walt: Ghetto isn't my aim. I hope it looks good.

Me: Send me a text picture when you're done...oh wait, pictures for CasaCullen. We'll just tackle it this weekend, don't worry about it.

Walt: I can take some pics while I make it.

Me: You mean, you'll totally stop working, bust out the camera and at least capture some of the process for me.

Walt: I'll give it my best effort.

Me: Ok, but remember to hold the camera super still when you take the pic. Sometimes you take really blurry pictures.

Walt: And now begins the micro-managing, ha!

Me: Haha, ok...I'm outta here...and YOU ROCK!

And sure enough, just like that, I hopped in the car after and was off to my women's group. I just knew I'd return to a finished product and a man saying, 'Whoops, I totally forgot to take pics!' But bam, a great pic popped up on my cell phone screen of this perfectly made changing pad topper. To say I was impressed is the biggest understatement of my life. Seriously, he only took one look at the picture above and knew exactly what I wanted. I have to give full credit to Walt for this project because he not only took 75% of the pictures but he also did 100% all the work. Now if only he read CasaCullen every once in a while, haha!

Read on for the pseudo picture tutorial and if you have any questions about the process, leave them in the comment section below and I'll get those answers from him, pronto!

Show me what you're working with? I snapped a few pics before I headed out. I really didn't have much hope for this here, table toppin' project, after spying this board right here. But I held my tongue and trusted that he knew what we needed/wanted.

When I came back outside to hop in the car and saw this...I was a true believer! It really is amazing what a little sanding can do for some wood, isn't it?

And now for Walt's photo taking skills. Here's the base of the topper, pre-cut.

And post-cut to our measurements in order to perfectly house the changing pad.

Cutting down the side rails since they were a bit too tall to start with.

Using the nail gun to hold everything together.

And this is precisely the pic I got via text from Walt and I about lost my breath. Seriously, I'm still so impressed with his handiwork on this one. And, not to mention, the fact that he actually snapped some great pics in such dim lighting. 

Said topper with pad placed in and score, it's a fit!

Here's the topper, sitting all handsome and regal, atop baby boy's changing table. We have yet to decide if we'll stain or paint the topper, so we'll be sure to update you on that choice. We also still want to add little skid-free feet on the bottom of the topper so it doesn't slide around. So those are two additions we have yet to do and they're on our to-do list for this weekend. 

And here's a closer look for those that like the detail shots. Oh glorious, free changing table topper...I seriously love you! Little baby boy's bottom is also going to appreciate you too!

Oh, Baby: DIY Nursery Decor - Felt and Fabric 3D Owl Wall Art

Remember how excited we were to cover that old painting with sleek new nature-inspired fabric from IKEA? The pic is below to jog your memory and HERE'S the post on how we accomplished this look.

And then, do you remember how I slaved for days/weeks over this trio of cutie felt owls, below. HERE'S that post for the entire DIY tutorial too.

PS - By the way, that bump is like 100 times bigger these days. It's almost go-time people!

So what happens when you combine these two? Ahhhhhh, check it out below! I'm seriously so smitten I can hardly hold my smile in! Even Walt's guy friends have taken a peek at the nursery and high fived me for my owl wall art work.

Yeah, it's a piece we'll cherish for years and hopefully our lil' man will appreciate his lil' buddies above his crib too. I have to say, if you haven't seen Legend of the Guardians yet, you have to. HERE'S a clip I love from this amazing spectacle of intense and creative animation. It's a family movie everyone will love, seriously. Anyways, we don't love owls where Zola is concerned but they're creatures we respect and have even been spotted HERE in our backyard.

So let's move on with the tutorial. Now let me remind you, you could actually do this type of art with any (flat) stuffed animal type thing. We knew we wanted our owls to be hanging out in their tree canvas but we just weren't sure how to attach these 10" stunners for safety reasons. Once I realized hanging them from a ribbon would do the trick, we were off to the races to complete our DIY nursery wall art. Read on, readers for the how, where and how much.

As soon as I had a few of the front of the owl bodies completed, I placed them on our fabric canvas and bam, I knew those lil' furry babies were 'home!' Done and done...now we just needed to brainstorm how to attach these furry friends.

So we were at Michael's scooping up some magnets for THIS project, and per their usual, they had a huge bin of discounted ribbon. I was looking through it for holiday wrapping needs and came across this rich forrest green spool. And then wham, it hit me! This is how I'd hang those little owls...voila!

I used a few safety pins from my recent purchases and attached the ribbon to the top back of each owl. 

And now things get complete ghetto and hilariously creative around CC. We used out kitchen chip clips to attach the ribbon to the back so I could play with the height and placement of the owls on the front. Genius...I think so! I wasn't about to staple those babies on without contemplating exactly where I wanted them to sit pretty first.

I thought about it for about a day and we just rested the entire wall art on the top of the crib. I bet I took it up and down about ten times in 24 hours until I found the perfect combo of high, low, rule-of-thirds goodness.

Walt busted out his trusty staple gun and secured those ribbons into place on the back of the canvas.

Here's a close up.

And the back of the wall art. I mean, no one is ever going to see the back (except thousands of readers, ha!) so I didn't even cut the ribbon. It was a wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am job. I wanted to get that art on the wall, pronto.

I told Walt I wanted something super, duper, uber secure for this piece of work. Why? It was hanging over my baby's head! So he headed to Home Depot and opted for these heavy duty fasteners. I trust his judgement and never really truly understood why these were the best choice...in his words, 'They just are!' Well ok then, ha!

He attached them to the back of the frame on the left and right side...

And then put heavy duty anchors and screws into the wall. 

This did take some serious measurement perfection. You can just slightly see the fasteners on the back of the canvas on the top left and right of the frame, on top of the fabric. So he had to precisely measure where those holes would land on the wall. And then make sure the screws were lined up and level. So it wasn't a quick and easy process, but most importantly, it was a very safe hanging option.

Hoot-hoo! (You like that, don't cha?) Here is the art, hanging in all it's sweet owl glory. Do you love it? Actually, I hate to be this way but even if you hate it, I don't care! Because I'm so head over heels in love with this piece of work that it almost makes my eyes water. Maybe it's the fact that those lil' felt faves took hours to make and all the nights I spent sewing, just made me think of our lil' man. Or wait, maybe it's the fact that Walt and I really did create this entire piece together. Remember, the painting underneath is an oldie but goodie. You can spy its bright turquoise goodness HERE. 

We are hootin' and hollerin' over here about our baby boy's fresh new wall art and hope you enjoy it too. Let us know if you tackle something similar in your house, we'd love to see pics! Send them to us via CasaCullen@Gmail.com and maybe (just maybe) you'll see your creative goodness live on CC too! Enjoy!

Oh, Baby: DIY Nursery Decor Under $30 - How to Make Small Chalkboard Baskets for Better Organization

How about these snazzy little chalkboards? Love the, love them! Once again, Walt never ceases to amaze me with his handyman skills. I told him I'd like a way to better organize all the different baskets in the nursery and we decided that chalkboards would be the easiest way to go. I explained to him that smaller chalkboards attached to the front of the baskets would provide the best organization method and make my life happier. He laughed at that. But he did immediately get busy concocting a plan, a great scheme, to make this idea come to life.

Read on for the tutorial below and how Walt created these adorable little boards for our nursery organizational needs.

First of all, we had some leftover chalkboard paint from THIS project and some smooth surface plywood from THIS project. So we already had a jump start on project costs since these were goods that we had waiting for us in the man cave garage. Walt gave the plywood slab three thick coats of chalkboard paint and let it all dry overnight. 

Walt used a table saw first to separate the pieces into 4" strips. I wasn't quick enough to grab a picture of that step. Then he used the mitre saw (above) to cut those 4" strips down into 6" sections, resulting in...

...these sweet little 4"x6" chalkboard slabs.

This is pretty much par for the course, for the Widda Tiny, when a loud power tool is engaged. She stands on the back door mat and just stares with sad eyes, basically saying, 'Oh please let me inside. This is hurting my tiny puppy ears!' And it's sweater season (kind of) on certain days here in Austin so we get to bust out all of our fur baby's tiny lady sweaters. She cracks me up!

Here's the trim that Walt purchased from Home Depot in order to surround the chalkboard slabs.

And his Gorilla wood glue that he swears by.

Adding some glue to the side.

 Pressing the piece of trim into the glue covered edge...

Using a nail/staple gun to make sure the trim is securely attached to all four sides.

Yes, that is ONE PROUD MAN! Seriously though, he should be! These are the cutest little chalkboards I've ever seen!

The left pile has been sanded down and is ready for the nursery...the version on the right wasn't sanded, but we think both options look really sleek.

We grabbed the Dollar Tree baskets that we placed in our little man's nursery closet HERE. Since we haven't found a dresser that we just love, we decided that baskets placed in a sweater closer organizer would do the trick for now. So Walt busted out his staple gun and popped 4 staples into the back of the chalkboard and securing it to the front of each basket.

Staple close-up.

Basket with chalkboard close-up.

This will be great, later on, when his tiny clothes no longer fit in these baskets because then we can either use this for socks, diapers, hats, etc. I know these baskets/this organization system will have years of use.

Now I can just pop his clean clothes into these baskets without reaching in and seeing what size I'm dealing with. It will make our lives so much easier and more organized.

Here they are, in all their glory! LOVE THEM!

Oh, Baby: DIY Nursery Decor Under $30 - How to Make a Trio of Felt Owls

If you have a total owl crush on our newest little family members, we totally understand. Because we do too, LOVE THEM! Remember when we mentioned HERE how much we love and adore little felt animals? We knew we wanted to DIY some felt animals for our little man but we just weren't sure what we wanted to make. When I landed on THIS tutorial for these adorable felt owls, I knew I had found precisely what I was searching for...and Walt was totally smitten too.

Granted, the tutorial and print-out HERE from Juicy Bits were for ornament sized owls and we wanted something 10" or more. So we had to really plan it all out and make sure we were superbly organized before trekking it to Michael's for our supply list. Read below for some of the glitches in the process and and how to also make some felt owls for your little monkeys. These totally would be adorable ornaments for the wee ones in your life too, so keep that in mind!

We just have to note that after days of pricing out felt animals all over the internet, we can't believe we can DIY three huge 10 inchers for under $30. Oh the power of DIY'ing, saving a pretty penny and giving our boy something we both made together. There's beauty in that, for sure. And one more thing, stay tuned for another owl post later this week. We'll reveal what area of the little Bub's nursery that this adorable lil' trio is going to call home!

The felt body colors we chose from Michael's.

The colors we chose for wings, eyes, beaks...and belly!

Our choice of rick rack color. Seriously, deciding on these colors at Michael's took forever. I'm rather bad at making decisions with my preggo brain so I was happy that Walt was there to execute, he was a huge help.

The embroidery thread that the Michael's lady told me to get. She said it was perfect for what we were doing, so take note if this is something you're going to tackle too. This thread does rock and was worth the extra penny.

The needles she pointed me to, too!

The button eyes we originally opted for (from Hancock Fabrics) but would eventually exchange for flat faced classic black buttons.

My attempt at free handing an owl outline on card-stock. Took a few re-draws and erasures...but I think we finally got a good outline!

So yeah, don't be jealous...this is what we do on a Friday night, ha! Walt is cutting out our wing templates from card-stock.

And my smarty pants man making eye ball templates from either side of a Mod Podge container. It wasn't just his brawn that caught my attention, ladies.

And here's our finished template for our three owls. And yes, we labeled them...F = front, just fyi.

Starting to trace on the felt but something REALLY IMPORTANT to remember...trace on the back of the felt (felt has two sides) and make certain you're tracing the correct side of your template. We actually had to really, really think through each of our tracings and we only messed up one piece!

 

Like I said, it's a wild Friday night at CasaCullen! So proud of our first official felt animal cut-out body! Yeah, it's the small things people...don't laugh too loud!

Someone was none too happy about her funny lil' nun topper...cute, cute pup-n-stuff!

Hubster is busy cutting out owl beaks and eating chocolate cake.

All the pieces are cut out for each owl, cha-ching!

And here's one that we laid out just to make sure it was exactly what we wanted...and it certainly WAS!

So here's where things got sticky. First of all, don't try to hand stitch the pieces on, unless you're some sewing pro. Look at how not-centered and cockeyed the eye ball background is.

So I made sure to tack the pieces on first before sewing them on. This system was full-proof for this novice seamstress.

Another hint, think through your layers! I was so pumped wen I got the eyes on and I loved what I saw and then BAM, I realized the beak had to actually go underneath this section of the eyes, UGH! So I had to un-sew it and add the beak in and then sew it back up. So make sure to think through your layers...people!

Much, much better...beak is in place and we're good to go!

Finished trio...and I was done for that night! This is not super easy and is really time consuming but I tackled most of the sewing, at night, while we watched our DVR'd shows. Except The Rachel Zoe Project...then the tv had my full attention, ha!

Next up, sewing on the other pieces. The order that worked best for me: securing the bright green rick rack to the green belly, then sewing the belly onto the larger body and finally sewing the wings on top of that.

Here I am sewing on the button eyes. Again, we took back the bubble, fabric wrapped buttons and opted for flat black buttons. We liked that look so much!

After a long afternoon of sewing, I'm finally to the point of stuffing and sewing the outside. This was a great feeling...finally seeing all these lil' South Parkers (that's what Walt calls them, because they do look like they're on the show, ha!) come to life!

I sewed all around the border but left room to stuff these lil' funny guys with some fill.

The massive bag of Poly-Fil from Michael's...yeah, we certainly have some leftover fill, ha!

Stuffed and sewn up...can you just see my beaming pride? How about my hairy helper? Yes, she was sleeping on the job, ha!

The completed trio...LOVE THESE GUYS!

Some of the details that I love!

And another detail shot for those of you looking to also tackle some felt owl fun! Remember, we based our project off of THIS tutorial from Juicy Bits blog. We loathe when other bloggers copy posts and don't give credit. We're all about giving credit where credit is due and will always say when an idea isn't entirely our own! Enjoy and tell us, what do you think? Was this worth all the time? We think so!

Oh, Baby: Nursery Decor DIY Under $20 - How to Cover an Old Canvas with Fabric for Instant 'Above the Crib' Wall Art

And you thought all the nursery chatter was over! No way, we have so much more to do in that sweet little room. Today's post features an easy way to create simple and stunning larger wall art. Take a big ol' canvas (like our hot turquoise mess that we painted together years ago) and cover it with fabric. And readers, that's pretty much what we have here today. Nothing fancy. Nothing hard to DIY by any means, but maybe an option you hadn't thought of.

You know that big empty space above your dining room table or how about that massive space in your master bedroom...do this! Head to your local fabric store and grab the right amount of fabric to cover it, plus make sure to leave 5 good inches on each side to staple the fabric to the back. Then check your local thrift, re-store or Goodwill for big canvases. Remember, it doesn't matter what's on it and if you choose a darker/thicker fabric (like we did) then the print most likely won't show through. If it does, you can back it with an inexpensive muslin or cotton for extra non-see-through padding.

Read on to see how we achieved exactly the look we were after.

So I'm sure you noticed the massive piece of IKEA fabric draping over our canvas in this picture featured on an earlier post. You probably even thought we had lost our minds if we thought a) that looked attractive and b) it would be safe NOT secured to the wall. Well, we just wanted to make sure the colors and look of the fabric were what we wanted in that above crib space. Plus we wanted a non-glass/non-mirrored element above his crib for safety purposes so a fabric wrapped canvas was the perfect option. 

Ironing time. Make sure to iron out all the wrinkles in your fabric before placing it around your canvas and securing it. They are actually super obvious so take this extra step. 

We laid out the fabric exactly how we wanted it. Now scan back up to the draping picture above. See how this awesome fabric from IKEA has an unfinished look? That's what we loved! We love that it almost looked like a 'rule of thirds' painting with the top half, un-finished. But instead of putting the plain brown part at the top, we wanted to line it up on the bottom. You'll see what I mean in a second. Moving on...

We made sure the fabric was exactly where we wanted it on the canvas and then I carefully/gingerly cut the fabric with some leeway for mistakes. See, I left about a 4-5 inch border just in case we had to move it around a smidge. We took one last look at the fabric placement and then Walt got down to business securing the fabric in place.

And Zola found her hiding spot, ha! She hates (and I mean hates) the staple gun. There are so many loud power tools in our house going all the time that you'd think they would phase her anymore. This is the one tool that she literally trembles about in the corner, poor pup! So Walt started securing the fabric on the back of the canvas to the wooden frame and it really did start to take shape. You want to pull the fabric taut but not tight!

Walt did present wrapped corners and you can see him over there, on the other side, holding the fabric taut before adding another staple. It kind of is an art-form and my man has it down pat.

And yes, even he made a few blunders as we had to remove some staples and try again. The ol' Leatherman got to make an appearance for staple removal-ness.

And here she is, the finished product. Don't you love how it looks like the leaves are just dripping down the canvas now? We opted for the dripping/natural effect rather than the other way around, which is how we actually had it placed, at first (look above at the second draping pic!)

So here it is completed but we have something to admit. We totally have something else up our sleeves to surprise you with in order to complete this nursery wall art. Ahhhh, we're so smitten with it, we want to scream! We hope to be DONE with this project this weekend and can't wait to share this awesome 'above the crib' creation with you next week! Enjoy!

PS - How about that baby bump? Holy mackeral, hilarious! And how good, tired and preggers do I look? BRING IT, baby...it's been brought! This Bub's totally makes a Momma tired some days but hey...I guess it's good practice for what's to come, right-o?