Step 6: ART!!!
As promised, I am back to share the art we used to polish off the nursery walls. This is where I really planned to bring the vintage book theme into play, so a while back I started trolling etsy and some local stores and markets for vintage books that I thought might fit the bill.
Originally, I had planned to gather some inexpensive old books and cut them up to create a large gallery, but in the end, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. A couple of the books, in particular, I really fell in love with, and I just could not take scissors to them. Instead, I sweet-talked the hubster into taking them into work and surreptitiously using the color copier to copy out the pages I wanted (Shhhhh! No telling on him!). I'm so glad I did it that way because Max and I have already enjoyed a few hours reading several of the books I purchased, and now they are on display in the nursery to see and be read.
Here is the final illustration gallery over the crib. Don't mind the blurred out frame. We recently settled on a name for this babe but have decided not to share it until he arrives, and that frame includes the baby's first initial, so it will have to remain blurred until further notice.
Clockwise from top left, the illustrations came from Peter Pan, Dick and Jane, Raggedy Ann, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Where the Wild Things Are, and The Travels of Babar.
A vintage book nursery, clearly, must include lots and lots of books, but traditional book shelves, while practical, don't show off the part of a book that most appeals to a child: the cover. The solution is to turn the books around, of course! Although these ledge-style shelves can be found at any number of children's retailers these days, my father-in-law graciously agreed to make them for me, thus saving me some money and allowing me to customize the size and color for the nursery. He even called Land of Nod to get the exact specifications for their shelves! Thank you, Al, for the awesome shelves!
Lastly, I wanted a piece of art in the nursery that incorporates our faith, since it is an important part of our family and I want to pass it on to our boys. I settled on this passage which is found, in various forms, throughout the Bible. The final product, itself, was a DIY effort. I covered a blank canvas purchased from Hobby Lobby with some scrap fabric and stapled it to the back. I arranged the text as a photo in photoshop and had it printed on regular photo paper. Then I used modge podge to attach the photo to the fabric and modge podged over the top of the photo only. Here's the final result:
Only a few more things remain to finish up the room. I'll probably wait to do a final reveal of everything until after baby arrives because I am planning to use some photos of the little man himself to complete the walls. But it looks like the little guy could be arriving any day now, so you might not have long to wait!
