DIY Nursery Decor: Sunshine and Elephants

When designing a nursery for my daughter, I wanted to accomplish a few things. First, I wanted a space that she could enjoy and find lots of fun things to look at and explore. Second, I wanted a space that was comfortable that I could relax in. And finally, I wanted a space that she wasn't going to grow out of too quickly. I started with the theme of Sunshine but then realized I had nothing tangible that she could hold, hug or play with so I decided to add an animal in. Elephants seemed like the perfect choice. They are big and protective, yet playful and fun (at least in my nursery they are!). And they fit perfectly with my color scheme of yellow, grey, black and white. What I love about the nursery is the majority of the decor is from do it yourself projects, completed either by my family, friends or myself. It makes the nursery even more unique and special! I am always looking for new ideas for cool projects for them room so the nursery is still "under construction!" Here are some of my favorite pictures of our un-done, work-in-progress nursery.

Photo credit: 3Buttons Photography

My sister made us this beautiful piece of wall art with an old canvas, some dowels from the craft store and some paint. I love the quote and hope it stays in Joanna's room for years to come! Great words to live by!
Here are the linens we used throughout the nursery. The crib skirt and curtains were home made and the plain yellow sheet was from Babies R Us. My mom made the Minky quilt and used the leftover fabric to make large soft floor blocks. (DIY tip: As Joanna got older and we lowered her crib, there was no longer a need for the crib skirt but we did need crib bumpers since she went through a phase of violently banging her body parts against the crib rails. We saved money by repurposing the crib skirt that we were no longer using to make the bumpers! Once she grows out of the bumpers I plan to repurpose again and make pillows!)


I love the Minky quilt! It is so soft and full of texture. It was also our star background for our monthly photographs!  (DIY tip: Minky fabric is expensive! Always buy it with a coupon!!!)

Photo credit: 3Buttons Photography

The blocks were 50 cents each at the craft store. I painted them yellow and stenciled the letters with black sharpie. (DIY tip: next time I would nix the sharpie and go for stencil and modge podge. I burned through about 5 sharpies in this project!)


I love the poofs! They were not initially made for the nursery. They were actually decorations from my baby shower made with tulle and ribbon. They were so pretty, I couldn't just throw them away after the shower! They made a great addition to the nursery! The pink elephant (I know pink was not part of the color scheme but a little touch here and there doesn't hurt!) was actually a card I had saved from my baby shower as well! And what are the chances that my childhood Carebear just happened to have a sunshine on it?! 


I know my theme is Sunshine and Elephants, not yellow flowers, however the flowers add so much brightness and cheer so I decided to bring them in as well! (Our curtains and crib skirt also have flowers on them). On the dresser we have framed pictures of Joanna with her grandparents and another elephant card from our baby shower.

This dresser was another one of my big DIY projects. It was my childhood dresser that had marker drawn all over and metal knobs. I painted the dresser and replaced the knobs. While replacing the knobs, I took some craft store flowers and stuck them through the screws so that they were screwed behind the knobs. I LOVE the way this turned out! 

Photo credit: 3Buttons Photography

Another little touch of pink! 

I absolutely love this piece. One of my friends who goes to art school made this work of art with colored pencils. It is perfectly customized to our theme and the little girl even has mixed skin! This was a shower gift that I'm sure we will be keeping forever!

I am not as talented as my art school friend so my artwork contribution was made with scrapbook paper and stencils that I made from elephant silhouette printouts that I got off of google image. Super easy project for non do-it-yourselfers!

This framed photo canvas was a great gift from Joanna's Godfather at her baptism. He ordered it from Walgreens online one day and picked it up in the store the next for a very reasonable price! It was one of our first family pictures and sits over our changing table. Whenever Joanna is getting changed, she always looks up and points at Mama and Dada. It is such a great "conversation piece" during diaper changes!

These were another cool project that my mom did with scraps of fabric and embroidery hoops. They provide a lot of high contrast and visual stimulation for the baby. We kept them close by her changing table when she was real young and than later put them up on the wall over her crib. 

***Since all these photographs were taken, we have moved into our new house! We took all of the old nursery decor but have not yet set it all up! I plan to add some new items too since we now have a larger nursery than at the old house! Stay tuned!