Jungle Nursery - Deck The Walls!

Decorating a nursery for a little girl can be tricky. Trying to find a balance between the pink, girly decor and boyish, masculine stuff took some time. We went with a jungle theme, but I still wanted something a little different. In our baby's jungle, the animals live happily together in a quirky little tree. We started with the bedding and went from there. New curtains have been ordered that I expect to really spruce up the window. It's a jungle nursery in progress!

Our little girl is spoiled already. We've received some gifts that we're working to sort through to add some as decor pieces in the jungle. My sister got her niece-to-be the Simba and Lion King book and my mom gave the cute jungle book you see here. That tiny monkey was a toy that my sister and I had as kids. Not all of this will stay atop the dresser, but I've been mixing up odds and ends to see what looks I like.

I came up with several drawings that we plan to use as wall decor. Still, those walls needed something extra to really bring out the bright colors and cheery theme of the room. Luckily, I didn't have to draw again to create a focal point. A wall decal that compliments the bedspread would be perfect! Unwrapping the artwork was a little tricky, but definitely worth the extra effort! We wanted to see what the decal would look like before we put it on the wall, so we spent some time putting it all together before actually sticking it above the crib.

The picture on the wall decal box looks a little different than our cheerful animal tree. We wanted it that way, though. Turns out that putting it all together on the ground first was a good idea, after all. Then, we could measure certain parts of the piece to create a balanced look.

 Just getting started, but going well so far. I was nervous at first about sticking the decal to the wall, but it's easy to move if you make a mistake. It helps to have people who are tall. To me, just about everyone is tall. I'd need a step ladder to do the top of the tree. Luckily, I have a husband for that sort of thing!

THE MORE HELP YOU CAN GET, THE BETTER! It can be tough to spot spacing mistakes from an up close perspective. Having others stand back and guide you is a definite plus for this project!

 Mom and Dad helped us out with this project. I couldn't be happier with how it all turned out!






And now, the end result of this wall project...

ADORABLE!!! I mean, how freakin' cute is this? I LOVE IT!! Super easy to do and you can customize according to the space you're working with.

 We positioned the tree trunk so it appears to be growing out of the baby's crib. As a centerpiece, this made a great focal point on the wall.

Since I used the animals you see here to inspire some drawings, I can't wait to see what it will all look like together! Applying the wall decal gave us a great start with our theme and I can't wait to finish up soon! :)

 FOR MY NEXT PROJECT....

I've been playing around with a few framing ideas for the sketches I did, but we haven't hung them up just yet. I've gotten good feedback on the little elephant I drew! He's based off the bedding and wall decal character. Now, just have to figure out how I wanna frame him!

Jungle Nursery Theme- Making Nursery Animal Art - DIY Art Inspiration

We've chosen a jungle theme for the nursery. 

Drawing animal art for the walls has kept me busy! 

     Not sure yet which of the many sketches and paintings I'll end up using, but  

here's what first inspired it all...

Starting with the bedding set, "Treetop Buddies", I based most of my drawings on the cute lil' creatures you see here. 

The wall decal was an item I also wanted to match with my DIY doodles so I used this picture (above) as a reference throughout the crafting process.

Doodle #1: I drew this elephant by using the iPad Paper app. Doesn't look exactly like the elephant from the nursery bedding, but I like the end result. I added my name to this one and the others that match. Because..., well... I'm kinda proud of these! :) 

Doodle #2: Again, this giraffe was created with the same app as the elephant. It took some time coloring in the lines and erasing was frequent. Still, happy with the result and think he matches the original one on the bedspread quite well.

I made several other animals with the app, basing all of them on the bedding and wall decal for the nursery. Lots of different creations to choose from but it's coming along nicely. 

This elephant 

is based on one that I saw for sale on Etsy, 

mixed with a stock image I found on Google. 

(Online inspiration helped a lot for my above doodle!)  

Drawn with markers and sponge painted, this little guy was fun to make! 

I liked the original designs, but wanted more color than the two images I'd seen so  

I DIY'd my own. 

 I've always loved this quote from Shakespeare. Having a little girl is going to be so much fun! I wanted something empowering for our little one so I sketched this up to get an idea for wall art. Not sure if I want to transfer it to canvas or if the arrow matches the overall theme, but I definitely want this quote somewhere in our nursery!

 To make a masterpiece, 

one must first 

make a MESS...

 I used everything from Sharpie's to colored pencils and iPad apps to 

make a variety of wall art  for our little girl. 

Not all of these will be used, but I had to visualize different styles to choose the ones I liked best. Experimenting by trial and error is my favorite way to do crafty projects!

Paint was also involved. 

I bought a set of acrylics from Michael's to make these next two characters...

EASY SKETCHES WITH SHARPIES... 

I found a stock image of an embroidered elephant and I liked the use of negative space. Grabbed a black sharpie and sketched out the outlines to make a cool looking elephant head. Probably won't use this one for the nursery since the animals are babies, but still a look I like.

A matching zebra head, inspired by another stock photo from Google. Drawing with markers has always been one of my favorite ways to make projects like this one. Painting this on canvas would be a good idea with this one, I think. Still, I prefer drawing on paper first to get a little practice. 

More sharpie fun with some coloring pencils to make a more age-appropriate zebra that goes with our theme! Since I won't end up using all of these, I hated for them to go to waste. Hope maybe a few of these inspire anybody else out there who wants to make their own wall art to match a jungle theme nursery!

Can't wait to frame, canvas, and hang up my favorites here soon! 

I've always loved a jungle themed nursery but there's something even more awesome about making the special crafty lil' extras for your child!