First off, I have to say congratulations to my dear friends Danielle and JD on their adorable new addition, Jaxen! That is precisely what this post is about, as well!
JD is in the army and therefore travels quite a bit, so Danielle and JD decided to make Jaxen’s nursery travel-themed! They’ve decided to go with a vintage-map look in brown and navy blue, which is where I started for this piece.
I’d love to say that I made a deliberate decision to use four small canvases, but honestly, I was going to see them the day they came home from the hospital and I just so happened to have four small ones instead of one large one. So that’s what I used. I do feel like it gave it a bit more character than the traditional route. Then again, I think it goes without saying that none of my friends have really been “traditional” when it comes to their nurseries.
Anyway, I started by washing each canvas with a light brown paint and using a hair dryer to dry them quickly. Then I sanded them a bit to give them a more old-world feel. Next came the hard part…the map it self posed quite some problems. I found an old map online and printed it out. Then I used a little trick that Gen’s mom taught me…I laid a grid down on top of the map and used it as a reference guide for where exactly things needed to go on the canvases. (how is it that Gen keeps coming up in my posts? Haha)
Once the basic outline was done, I brushed from the outside in, filling in the shapes with a darker brown. I was hoping to make the edges darker than the middle, but it worked in some ways and not in others. Once that layer was dry, I sanded yet again. Once I was finished with the background of the map, I mixed up a shade of navy blue and wrote Jaxen’s name on the canvases and outlined them all in blue.
Sadly, now I have a large blue stain on my carpet (goodbye security deposit…) thanks to my clumsy puppy!
All in all, I think it turned out rather well! I love giving my friends custom gifts rather than store-bought ones. I feel like I’m passing a piece of my heart on to them and hopefully it will bring love and happiness to those in their lives. Cheesy, right? Well, that’s me!
Congrats, JD and Dani! Thanks for bringing yet ANOTHER boy into our group! Let’s see…that’s number 7, I believe! Maybe we’ll see a girl sometime soon? (And no…I don’t mean from myself. I’d kinda like to get something small and sparkly first! Hint hint…E)
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