Dr. Seuss Nursery - Part 3 - Mobile

Robbie's nursery had a cute little Indianapolis Colts Football Mobile that hung above his crib, but that didn't quite work with our new theme.  I looked online and again found that the items available seemed really expensive for the quality and not really what I wanted. So, I decided to make my own.

I looked on Amazon and found this cool "Make Your Own Mobile" Kit.  Basically, it is a simple wire frame with 10 little clips on the bottom for attaching the items of your choice.

I had some adorable Dr. Seuss themed material samples I ordered from Cotton Blossom Farm (a great online fabric store).  One had little characters on it and the other was a cool rainbow stripe.  I made little pillows from the fabric.  On the top of the mobile, I used a teeny-tiny iconic red & white hat that I purchased at our local Party City store.  Dr. Seuss' birthday is coming up and they have lots of decorations available.  So cute!

 

I think this turned out pretty cute.  I love how colorful it is.  Also, when little one grows out of Dr. Seuss, I think we can make a new decoration with it by adding something different to the clips.

Dr. Seuss Nursery - Part 2 - Favorite Story Tribute

For our little one's Dr. Seuss nursery, I wanted some prints to hang on the wall.  After a few internet searches, I discovered a couple of things.

1.  Art, if it is well done, is expensive.

2.  There are a ton of "Dr. Seuss" art prints with quotes that are NOT ACTUAL QUOTES.  They are either attributed to him mistakenly (someone else said them) or they are just plain made up.  This type of thing drives me crazy.

So, I decided to make my own.  My mom and I started searching Goodwill and used book stores for cheap Dr. Seuss books.  At Goodwill you can get a hardback book for a buck and the condition was not a concern, since I was planning on cutting them up anyway.  

Step 1:  Materials

11 x 14 art canvas (available at most craft stores)

Mod Podge (I like the matte, but it is also available in glossy)

Sponge Brushes

Pages from your favorite books

Black Paint

Step 2:  Prep Canvas

I painted the edges of my canvases black so they would look more "finished" when hanging on the wall.

Step 3:  Create Collage
Cut out images from your favorite books and lay them out and move them around until you like them.  Apply a thin layer of mod podge to the back of a piece and smooth out onto the canvas.  Repeat, layering gradually, allowing time to dry as needed.  There are a lot of great videos on you tube about the proper way to decoupage if you search for them.  When you are done, spread a thin layer all over top surface to seal it in and allow to dry.

Here are my results.  Some turned out better than others.  We may not hang them all, but they were fun to do anyway!

Dr. Seuss Nursery - Part 1 - Truffula Trees

So, I haven't blogged in months and months... I have a lot of catching up to do.

But in the meantime:  Here's a quick catch up on our big news - we are expecting a baby girl in March!

We've decided to decorate Baby Girl's nursery in a Dr. Seuss theme.  So first off, I decided to "grow some truffula trees."  If you don't know what truffula trees are, stop reading this blog, go pick up a copy of the Lorax, read it, and then come back.  You'll thank me for it later.

Step 1: Materials

Styrofoam balls - I bought two different sizes

Sewing Pins

Floral stems - I found a paper-wrapped wire decorative stem in the Easter Clearance.  The top was covered in sequins and beads.  My husband took his wire cutters and trimmed off all the frufru stuff at the top.  I think you could also use anything from the floral section and just paint it yellow.

White Fur Trim - My mom had a bunch of this in her sewing supplies and mailed it to me.  It is a lot like this fur trim.

Sharpies - to "paint" your trees

Bag of White Rice

Jar of ModPodge

Green Food Coloring

Rub-on Letters

Small Clay Pot

Step 2:  Put a small piece of something into the hole at the bottom of the ball.  If you don't do this, you will never be able to find the hole later and you will have to rip it out completely.  I learned that the hard way.

Step 3:  Start wrapping the trim around the ball, sticking in pins to attach it to the styrofoam.  As you do this, you will need to kind of "fold and tuck" in places to make it lay right.  Continue until you have completely covered the ball.  Trim off the end and add pins to any places needed to make it look right.

Step 4:  Take your sharpie in the color of your choice and start to color the fur.  This will take a while, so pop in your favorite movie and start coloring.  As you move the fur around, you'll find more white spots and will need to keep coloring.  Eventually, you'll be happy with the look.  Take a break to get some fresh air from the sharpie fumes.

Step 5:  Insert your floral stem into the bottom of the ball to for a trunk.  I took a black marker to add some stripes to the trunk.  Bend the trunk to make it whimsical.

 Step 6:  Planting
Ok, so this took a little trial and error and I don't have good pictures.
Here goes:  Take a few of the leftover styrofoam balls and cut into halves.  Stick trunks into the styrofoam and stuff into the pot. Shove some extra pieces in there too.  Dump a little rice in the pot.  Pour in a little mod  podge.  Dump in a little more rice.  Pour in a little more mod podge.  Keep repeating in small layers.  This will eventually dry and create a really nice solid base.  Next take a bowl of dry rice and add 5 or 6 drops of green food coloring and stir around to stain the rice.  Add this to the top of the pot for "grass."  Finally, use the rub on letters to remind yourself that "Unless".

Aren't my little potted truffula trees adorable!?!

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing's going to get better.  It's not.