DIY hanging decoration

 

When I designed my daughter's nursery, I wanted something to hang above her changing table that would look beautiful in the room and give her something to enjoy for the many diaper changes I knew were in her future. The cherry blossom branch with butterflies ended up being one of her favorite things!
 
I wanted my friend's new baby to have the same enjoyment on the changing table, so with a stick, some tissue paper, string and cardstock, I made a cute cloud dripping with stars.

Find a branch you love at the craft store - or in your back yard - and get creative. These are for decorative use only though, so please don't place this above a crib or anywhere a baby is unattended. But since you will always have a hand on baby while changing her, above a changing table is the perfect spot!

Hanging decorations are so fun to make! And don't just think of them for in a nursery or bedroom. They make perfect party decor! How cute would a group of these be with raindrops dripping from the clouds at a baby or bridal shower?! Use your imagination. The sky - or ceiling's - the limit!




Here's how I crafted the cloud mobile:

  

After painting a fallen branch with light gray craft paint, I attached some white ribbon so that I could hang the finished product on a hook from the ceiling. If you don't want to use a stick, you could also use a dowel from the craft store.
 

Now to turn tissue paper into a cloud. Remember folding paper into a fan when you were a kid? Time to brush up on those skills! Simply stack 8 to 10 pieces of tissue paper together, fold the paper like an accordion and then tie some wire around the middle to secure it. (White bread bag twisty ties work perfectly for this!)

 

You can vary the look of the finished pom pom 

by how you cut the ends, but since I was going for a cloud look, 

I rounded them. Then just start pulling the layers apart 

and fluffing them. Pretty, right?!

Now, for a little stardust! Since the uniformity was important for this, I invested in a star punch, but I have used it so many times since then, so I have more than gotten my money's worth! Remember that New Year's Eve party my daughter and I threw? Check it out HERE if you missed it! I used it a LOT for that!

When the stars are ready, arrange them in the order
you want them and tape one piece
of string down through a row of stars, securing each star to it.
To make things easier, tape the top of each piece of string
to the table you are working at so you can pull
on the other end for some resistance when taping the stars.

 Next, dot each star with white glue
and place a second star on top to sandwich in the string.

 After the rows have dried completely, 

knot the string to the branch before securing 

the pom poms.

 That's it! Screw a hook into the ceiling, hang and enjoy!! 

Check back in a few months to see the decoration 

I am making for above my son's changing table!

 I am so excited and can't wait to see how it turns out!

An enchanted forest nursery fit for a princess

There are so many cute themes out there, but when I was designing our daughter's room, I wanted something that would grow with her for a while. I decided I wanted it to look like she had stepped into an enchanted forest! I used a basic palette of pink and green and added in lots of branches and trees. A bit of hard work and a little DIY later, and here is what it looks like!

 I knew immediately that I wanted a large tree 

as the focal point of her nursery, 

but to get one as large as I wanted 

would have been way too expensive. 

I am no painter, but really felt like 

I could tackle this for her. 

I ended up doing two trees in the room 

and it took me about 12 hours 

between the two of them. 

I just sketched out the trunk design 

and then started painting everything. I really enjoyed 

painting them and am so happy with how they turned out. 

Since I think great design is in the details,

the final thing I added to the large tree was

a heart with the initials 

of hubby and I. It still makes me sappy when I see it!

 

This is the second tree I painted. 

It was inspired by a specific decal I had seen.

I had hubby add shelves to the two

right branches, but we didn't want

to drill into the left because 

the chimney is behind it. So, instead, 

two cute owls were perched there. 

 

These cute owls were completely free as a result

of me raiding my craft closet. I found cute 

scrapbook paper I had been hoarding for years, 

looked at the basic shape of an owl and started cutting. 

Since they are just paper, I used plain scotch tape

to hang them on the wall. It's been more than two

years and they are still holding strong!

The wall above her changing table seemed pretty

bare, so I created this quick mobile for her to look

at during her many diaper changes. 

I am not big on putting mobiles above sleeping areas, 

but I thought above a changing table would be great!

I just took a cherry blossom branch from Michaels, 

clipped butterflies to it and then hung more sparkling 

butterflies from the bottom. She really loved this

and it stayed up until she could reach it during

changes and started pulling on the butterflies. 

If you are looking for something that would be the perfect addition to your enchanted forest or woodland themed nursery, check out the birth statistics poster in my shop! 

It's a great and whimsical way  to commemorate 

one of the most important days in your life!