I’ll never forget my son’s first masterpiece. As a recent member of the preschool “Mommy & Me” circuit, I was thrilled when my son made his first art collage. I jumped for joy at the mostly mommy manufactured piece of art. Heck! I even had it framed to cherish this memory. But what I really won’t forget is the teacher saying  “Oh dear, this is just the beginning. You just wait!” Oh, and she wasn’t kidding!

So now what to do with all the art!?! We’ll, I’ve dedicated a wall near the kitchen table to display my child’s artistic talent (scribble to some). Each piece is hung on a taught wire and clipped with steel binder clips. Unfortunately, my kitchen is going under construction so no pics yet however, Tracy had the same idea a few months back and was featured on The Nesting Blog in this terrific “Kid Art Display” article full of ideas!

Looking for something a little more manicured? The kidsArtStor offers a neat little invention that frames art, allowing you to rotate it within seconds to accommodate original works as they walk through the door. They also offer a handful of bright frame colors to choose from.

The coolest and most ambitious gallery idea I dream of implementing comes from an article in the San Francisco Chronicle written a few years back by established writer, blogger and mom, Charlene Prince. Charlene features the work of SF designer M.F. Chapman. Don’t you just LOVE this wall? Be sure to visit this excellent article for it’s designer display tips.

Whether your little Picasso’s pieces go on display in the their room, hallway, playroom or like me: over cereal, make certain to have fun with the display for all to appreciate!

Tags: DIY, Framing, Wall Art

I haven’t found the right playful picture of the kids to have blown up on canvas but I really love the idea. Now, I have even more reason to find that perfect picture to convert into a piece of artwork. Chic Canvas has teamed up with our friend and stationary guru Erin Condren to introduce a line of canvas keepsakes.  With details such as Erin’s trademark Stripes and Candy Lace designs, the canvas can be totally customized. Those holidays are just around the corner and these beautiful canvas works of art would brighten up the nursery, toddler room or play room. Sizing runs from 8 x 10 for $79 to the oversized 36 x 48 for $319.

Want your house to be extra jolly this Christmas? Erin has just introduced the darling “Oh Christmas Tree” canvas print for $112.  With the holidays around the corner this print is a bright and cheerful way to welcome your guests at this year’s holiday party. In fact, you can coordinate your invitations and gift labels to match the canvas. Now that’s getting in the spirit!

Tags: Gifts, Wall Art

Cassie is a seasoned blogger, Etsy shop owner, graphic designer and crafter who officially added the title of Mom last week as she and her family welcomed Perry Avery into the world! Cassie’s nesting time was well spent creating a soothing, bird inspired nursery. “For the baby’s room, we decided to keep it understated, clean and modern with a folksy twist. I wanted a room I could personally seek refuge in and not just a character-themed nursery he would outgrow in a couple years…I’d say the room currently reflects my own style and not necessarily that of a baby boy.

The color inspiration came from a quilt Cassie made a few years back and the crib/crib bedding comes from Walmart. Fearing that the notNeutral wall decals wouldn’t properly adhere due to the room’s textured walls, Cassie created her own version with a quart of paint, stencils made out of card stock, and a roll of masking tape. The green paint on the wall is Valspar 6003-3B Martinique Dawn in eggshell and the green used for the mural is Valspar MS245 Spiny Sea Urchin in semi-gloss. For more DIY details, visit Cassie’s sweet blog “Twittering Bird“. Oh, and we must boast that Project Nursery inspired the darling, complimentary handmade bird mobile!

Cassie believes that anyone can easily customize anything with a couple quarts of paint and a few yards of fabric! We wanted a dresser instead of a changing table, so the little guy could use it for years to come. We were on an ikea budget and weren’t quite satisfied with anything we saw until we spied this dresser. It’s solid wood but the colors were anything but exciting, so we figured a few quarts of paint would be the perfect solution. The exact colors of the dresser are: Valspar 5004-9C Beach Sparkle (blue) and Valspar 6010-4 Amazon Silt - both in semi-gloss.“

Just one simple curtain panel provided enough fabric to make two valances. And the best part - The fabric was found on sale at Target for only three dollars! The dresser and shelf are both from Ikea. Some of Cassie’s favorite finds include the Amy Ruppel print (their first purchase once pregnant), the inflatable “Rody“, and the Bla-Bla knit toys.

Best wishes to both Cassie and baby! Thank you for taking the time to share with us. We hope you enjoy many peaceful nights in your beautiful nursery!

Tags: Boy, Gender Neutral, Inspiration, Paint, Wall Art

Here’s an idea. One-of-a-kind, personalized artwork that adds a subtle touch of modern to the nursery without going overboard and costing a fortune. Sound appealing? Let us introduce you to Mod Memento, personal heirlooms on paper. These prints are a unique and modern way to incorporate new baby’s name into the nursery or home. Wall letters and monogram decals can look nice but why not use the story of falling for your mate in the artwork too? Great keepsakes are all about the details!

Mod Memento’s digital prints can be ordered in any color combination to match your little one’s nursery and are totally custom made to reflect your style. You can even send owner and designer, Brianna, a swatch of fabric to tie in specific colors. She whips up these beautifully bold and colorful creations in her home studio in Charlotte, North Carolina. Inspired by typography, digital art and photography, Brianna’s fun designs arrive ready to frame for instant gratification (love that). You can find Mod Memento’s entire collection at her Etsy Shop or become a fan on her Mod Memento Blog. One lucky Project Nursery reader will win a custom print of their choice. The winner is going to have a very tough decision on their hands.  Birth Story, Monogram, Baby Love and Family Tree are all amazing, you can’t go wrong. Good Luck!!

WIN IT NOW!

1. Comment on this post with your favorite Mod Memento Print

2. Extra entries are counted by 1) posting on our Project Nursery Forum (up to 5x) 2) subscribing or commenting that you are a subscriber and 3) blogging about our giveaway. Don’t worry, we track it all!

3. The winner will be selected at random by using random.org

4. Contest ends Friday, November 7th, 11:59pm pst

CONTEST CLOSED - Congrats to Sharon!

Tags: Gifts, Giveaways, Personalized, Wall Art

When my son was born, we were showered with sweet, soft, stuffed animals. I picked a few of my faves to add to his crib and decorated his room with the rest. I knew he would one day claim his own to love: aka “lovey”. I’ve read that more than half of toddlers own a lovey. You know, that transitional stuffed animal or blanket which soothes and provides a child with that extra sense of security. So what am I to do when “Go-Go” goes away?

Bay area artist Nicole Leigh Smith of A Bunny A Day, creates portraits of warm, cheerful stuffed animals and posts them on her daily blog for sale. Note cards, prints and canvas originals become even more appealing when her reasonably priced art for kids shares 20% of proceeds with various animal charities.

” I have been painting all things plush and fluffy since I can remember! The first thing my uncle taught me how to draw was a pillow!…Texture and color are huge for me, but I am also interested in capturing a “moment of simple joy and happiness” within the viewer of these portraits, I want to make these stuffed receivers of our childhood affections come Alive!!!”

Nicole’s work is special, one of a kind and Project Nursery couldn’t be more impressed as to how she brings these darling stuffed animals to life.

Back to my son’s lovey, loving named  “Go-Go” (translates to “dog” in Chinese): I have searched high and low to find a new Go-Go as he is desperately tattered and has survived one to many hot wash cycles. I fear the day when Go-Go completely falls apart. Lucky for me Go-Go looks identical to the puppy on the left. Yippee! Go-Go has been immortalized! Problem solved.

Tags: Stuffed Aminals, Wall Art

Finding the right wall decor for a nursery is never easy. Wall art that is personal and coordinated with the entire the room make a nursery feel special. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Stampin’ Up! has many fabulous do-it-yourself (DIY) frame ideas that can allow any mom to create customized, professional looking artwork for children’s rooms.

I immediately fell in love with this adorable sailboat. This frame would be the perfect addition to any nursery.

Materials list includes: Very Vanilla textured card stock, Baja Breeze Patterns Designer Series paper, Small Chocolate Nursery Necessities Décor Elements, Kiwi Kiss 5/8” striped grosgrain ribbon, Linen thread, Button Bouquet, and Frame.

The Step-by-Step:
1. Adhere Baja Breeze Patterns Designer Series paper to Very Vanilla textured card stock, and insert into frame.
2. Apply Décor Elements vinyl to front of glass.
3. Tie linen thread through Kiwi Kiss button, and adhere to glass.
4. Tie Kiwi Kiss ribbon to frame, and hang from ribbon.

Some other fun DIY options with the materials available from Stampin’ Up! include creating personalized monograms using papers and colors to match bedding, wall color, and other accents:

The possibilities for themes are really endless: whimsical, modern, masculine, animals, trains, cars, alphabets, numbers, etc. With the numerous material selections available at Stampin’ Up!, any nursery can be enhanced with the addition of these beautiful, professional-looking DIY stamps and decor element wall decals!

Note: Not all product used in the Butterfly Baby room is available for purchase at this time.

Tags: DIY, Frames, Stampin', Wall Art, Wall Decals, Wall Letters

LOVE your child’s room walls with a little Poster candy from Made By Girl. Jennifer Ramos‘ LOVE Candy collection of posters in tangerine, grapefruit, mint, lemon, watermelon, and cotton candy couldn’t be any sweeter.

Learn your ABC’s and your name. No wonder why Jen’s ABC KIDS is her most popular poster. One can personalize it with their child’s name, “Love” or “Amor” and even customize color. A wonderful addition to any nursery!

And just a bonus if you are from, like or named Brooklyn. All hip posters and fabulous card collection are made by one cool girl!

Tags: Personalized, Wall Art

We were so pleased that Elizabeth Brantely, former TV and film production designer and all around dynamo mom, shared her daughter Trixie’s nursery with us. The nursery has a vintage elegance which makes sense considering its inspiration came from a place rich in history: family heirlooms. Many of the elements in the nursery are items from Elizabeth’s great-grandparents. Elizabeth and her husband Steve had a tall order when they set out to remodel the room designated to be the nursery in their 1916 bungalow. After the initial floor work and painting (a color called “Pinkish”) was complete, Elizabeth’s vision was a room centered around three important pieces: a painted chest of drawers, a set of vintage cabbage rose curtains and a rescued iron chandelier. These pieces had sentimental meaning to Brantley and it was important for her to be able to reuse things she loved rather than purchase everything new.

The nursery was a labor of love for the couple and they quickly became dedicated to creating a sweet and cozy (but not too frilly) place for their daughter to also love. Great-grandma’s rose curtains were hung in place of a sliding closet door and Simply Shabby Chic curtains were added to the windows. Instead of a glider, Elizabeth chose to use a mission rocking chair with a handmade needlepoint pillow. The crib linens are a variety of prints by Amy Coe.

The art is where this nursery really gets personal. Did we mention that Elizabeth has her own online shop, Kistner Supply, which features a new product line, Mother Stork’s Baby Art? Two of these prints hang over Trixie’s crib along with her mother’s baby quilt. In addition, Elizabeth hung framed silhouettes of she and her husband as children and shadow boxes which display bonnets from three generations of Brantely women. So smart! Also, don’t miss Kistner Supply’s Cashmere Chime Balls. They are just adorable! A big thank you goes out to Elizabeth for sharing Trixie’s beautiful and sweet nursery filled with wonderful family history. And if you want to read more about Elizabeth, Steve and Trixie’s lovely home, check out the entire home tour on our friend Cookie’s blog.

Tags: Baby Nurseries, Lighting, Vintage, Wall Art

Well, one of these days! I just enjoyed the Aaron Brothers frame sale for my new, renovated hallway. So now I have a gallery of fab frames, with pictures of strangers hanging. Since the digital revolution, it’s going to take me a bit longer to upload and go through pics to order online and fill these frames. However, I have really good intentions to make this little DIY project a reality and plan to submit my finished product to Little Window Shoppe (within the next year)!

How cool is it that family photos are incorporated! For the how to and more information, visit our sweet friends at the oh, so sweet Little Window Shoppe for the DIY details!

Tags: Art, DIY, Photos, Wall Art

Manhattan based mom-to-be Tamra recently reached out to us via our Share Forum and asked for our help in dreaming up the ideal nursery for her son who is due this fall. We were happy to help out and give Tamra extra kudos for being part of the Project Nursery community.

Although Tamra knew she was having a boy, she wanted to keep the nursery colors soft and neutral just like the paint color she loved, “Breath of Fresh Air” by Benjamin Moore. While life in the Big Apple is full of fast city energy, the nursery needs to be soothing and peaceful. Amen! Tamra had already picked out a few key items and just needed help fine tuning the room. Her picks included crib bedding by Junior Q Collection, featuring sky blue elephants and a geometric pale yellow tile print, and the Amy Coe Westport crib and dresser from Babies R’ Us. With these items in place it was a cinch for us to pull together a stunning inspiration board for you Tamra (if we don’t say so ourselves). We hope you like our additions and just request that you send us photos when the room is complete!

Junior’s Nursery Recs:

1.Deco Pendant Lighting - Design Public
2.Benjamin Moore “Breath of Fresh Air” - Paint*
3. Wallter Circles Wall Application - Design Public
4. Resin Side Table - West Elm
5. Q Collection Junior Celestial Palace - Crib Set*
6. My Pal, The Elephant - Wall Art
7. FLOR Walking on Clouds Collection - Floor Covering/Rug
8. P’kolino Clothes Tree at Sparkability - Storage
9. Amy Coe Westport - Crib & Dresser at Toys R Us*

Tags: Bedding, Blue, Coat Rack, Contemporary, Cribs, Inspiration, Lighting, Wall Art