The Safari Nursery Canvas Project

When we found out we were having a little boy (over a year and a half ago at this point), I immediately knew I wanted to outfit his room with baby safari animals! I found the perfect bedspread to help carry out my vision for the room. I knew I was going to make his name above the crib, but I was on the quest to find budget-friendly artwork for his walls.

I really wanted to get some canvas prints of safari animals to adorn his walls. Not sure if you have priced out “anything” printed on canvas these days, but it is far from affordable. I opted to go for Plan B, which was for me to make something myself. I was trying to avoid this since I was 7+ months pregnant and really didn’t need to add another thing to my to-do list, but when you can’t find what you are looking for, do-it-yourself!

So I used the elephant, parrot, lion and giraffe found in his bedspread as a muse and created similar looking animals using InDesign. I found some really cute quotes to go with each animal. This definitely took more time than I had anticipated, but after getting put on bedrest for the last 2 months of my pregnancy it was a great time filler and helped me from going insane!

Essentially, each animal is a bunch of circles squares and other odd shapes all overlapping and grouped together to form the animal shape. If your design expertise stops at creating circles or you just don’t have the time that bedrest allows, than you can easily find the images you are looking for using iStockPhoto.com, BigStockPhoto.com or GettyImages.com. I didn’t want to go through the expense of having these printed on framed canvas, so I brainstormed how to come up with a DIY version and get a similar outcome. I contacted a local printer and asked if they printed on canvas. I explained to them that I only wanted the artwork printed to the canvas and that I didn’t need it stretched and wrapped around a wood frame, and that I literally just wanted the piece of canvas with the artwork. The printer was great and did just what I asked, all for a really reasonable price! You could easily try printing your images onto laser or inkjet transfer paper and ironing onto a piece of canvas or other coarse fabric.

Once I had the prints back from the printer, I purchased four thin wood planks from the craft store, painted them an off white and added an opaque varnish to seal it. I then took the canvas prints and adhered them to the wood planks using a crafters glue. I liked the rough, somewhat fraying edges of the canvas and so I didn’t seal the edges.

Project nursery decor complete! They are hanging above the changing table and they often keep him preoccupied enough for me to get through a diaper change mess free – notice I did say “often”!

Questions, comments or other feedback? Let me know!