DIY Nursery Art

... or How to Forge Some Artwork You Like But Are Too Cheap to Actually Buy

In my last nursery post I linked to some artwork I liked. I contemplated buying it, then considered the fact that it didn't look all that difficult to reproduce (because as stated above, am cheap). Especially since I had all of the supplies on hand to do so.

I copied the image I like, pasted it into word and stretched it to the size I wanted. I printed it out on the lowest quality.

Then I turned the page over and traced over the image with a pencil.

Then turned the page back over and centered it on top of some card stock which will be my final canvas. I made sure you hold the top page still, but it could be taped down if necessary. Then I scribbled over the image to transfer the pencil from the other side to the card stock.

I tried to take a picture of the pencil on card stock, but it was so light it did not photograph well. Then I used some acrylic paint from Michael's to fill in my tracing. I could have probably also used some high quality markers, but I like to get my paint brushes out every once in a while.

And voila:

Then I decided I really wanted an elephant too, so I made the giraffe a friend:

Both took less than a few hours, were totally free to me and customizable in terms of size and color, and I'm excited to see them in place.

Merry Christmas to me!