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DIY: Upcycled Nursery Art

If you take time to browse the piles, thrift stores can be a treasure trove of materials to use to make upcycled nursery art. A solid wood frame and a beautifully illustrated children’s book can be paired together for some really cute DIY wall decor.

Upcycled Nursery Art - Project Nursery

When you’re shopping, don’t be discouraged by dust, outdated wood tones or yellowing picture mats (we’ll fix those in a minute), and make sure that the pages of your book will fit behind the mat. I recently picked up this unassuming pair for a total of $4. Makeover time!

Thrift Store Frame and Children's Book for Nursery Art

Materials: frame (including mat and glass), children’s book, spray paint, fabric, spray adhesive, double-sided tape, scissors, X-Acto knife, tape

Begin by disassembling the frame. Remove the old artwork, mat and glass. If the wood is outdated or scuffed, a quick coat of spray paint will freshen it up.

Upcycled Frame for Nursery Art

Art mats tend to yellow over time. While they can be spray painted, I sometimes like to cover them in fabric to add more visual interest to the piece. To do so, place your mat atop some lightweight cotton and cut the fabric approximately an inch larger than your mat.

Fabric-Covered Mat for Framed Nursery Art

Coat the front of your mat with spray adhesive.

Spray Adhesive for Upcycled Nursery Art

Smooth the fabric out on a flat surface (right side down), and press the adhesive-covered side of the mat onto it.

Fabric-Covered Mat for Framed Nursery Art

Cut a notch at each corner of the fabric.

Fabric-Covered Mat for Framed Nursery Art

With permanent double-sided tape, line the outside edge of the back of your mat.

Fabric-Covered Mat for Framed Nursery Art

Fold and stick each outer fabric flap snugly onto the double-sided tape.

Fabric-Covered Mat for Framed Nursery Art

Use scissors to cut a hole in the center of the fabric inside the mat opening. Then snip diagonally to all four corners, getting as close to the mat as you can without cutting it.

Fabric-Covered Mat for Framed Nursery Art

Remove excess inside fabric, leaving inch-wide flaps.

Fabric-Covered Mat for Framed Nursery Art

Just like you did on the outside edge, line the mat opening with double-sided tape, fold the fabric flaps onto the mat and press down to secure.

Fabric-Covered Mat for Framed Nursery Art

Fabric-Covered Mat for Framed Nursery Art

Voila! That much cuteness easily hides any previous life this mat has lived.

Fabric-Covered Mat for Framed Nursery Art

Next, use an X-Acto blade to carefully remove your book page of choice and securely tape it to the back of your mat.

Vintage Children's Book for Nursery Art

Thrift Store Frame and Children's Book Art

Once your frame is dry (if you spray painted it), give the glass a good cleaning and reassemble your frame. It may take some patience to hunt for just the right storybook/frame/fabric combination, but the pay off is some seriously affordable and adorable upcycled nursery art!

Upcycled Nursery Art - Project Nursery

8 Creative & Fun DIY Nursery IdeasMy OBGyne

Friday 24th of April 2015

[…] Take some time to browse through the piles at thrift stores and there can be a treasure trove of materials for some amazing nursery art. Check out this cute DIY wall décor. […]

upcycled art | Grey House Harbor

Wednesday 4th of February 2015

[…] to enjoy writing a monthly DIY post for the design blog, Project Nursery. This month I’m sharing a tip on how to transform thrift store frames and storybooks into cute wall art, including a step-by-step […]