DIY Monogram Nursery Art

It's easy to make your own monogram wall art for the nursery, and so much cheaper than getting it custom made!

If you saw this post on the boys new room, you know I've made them each their own monograms that hang above their cribs. The older boys (I love that I have so many boys, I can't just say 'the boys' I actually have to specify which ones/who I'm talking about!) had a calming blue/green color scheme in their nursery that we carried over to their big boy room. I completely made over the twins' nursery with a outdoor/woodland theme. You can tell I love this theme because I hosted my sister's baby shower with it and used so many of the decorations I bought for that in the nursery! Full reveal and decoration inspo post is coming soon, but today I'm focusing on one part: the DIY monogram nursery art I made to hang above their cribs. Oh, and since I'm sharing this monogram craft, I'm also sharing the names of the twins! *Affiliate links used*

My older boys had classic wooden letters painted for their monogram but I wanted something a little more campy, a little more outdoorsy for the twins. I'm not overly into room "themes" so I wanted the art that I did put up to be cohesive and reflect the look I was going for without "over-theming" the room. (I don't think that's a word - spell check is giving me the red line - but I'm sticking with it). Anyway, I guess this theme or some version of it is pretty popular, because I had no trouble finding supplies to make their cute monogram nursery art.

At first, I just had the painted letters glued to the birch wood as the whole craft. We hung them on the wall and it just looked... Small. The room is large, and despite getting the largest birch bark I could find at the craft store and the largest letters to fit on that wood, it simply wasn't big enough for the wall space I needed it to fill. Easy fix! I bought large canvases that I covered in burlap (to keep the rustic campy feel) then attached the birch bark and monogram to the canvas. Boom, the monogram fit the space much better while maintaining the theme.

DIY Woodland Monogram Nursery Art
- Raw edge wood (like this if you want it to look like mine)
- Letter(s) of choice (like this or this - just make sure they fit on/within your raw edge wood!)
- Acrylic paint and small paint brush
- Wood glue
- Fabric canvas on wood frame
- Small screws and electric drill/screwdriver
- Optional: fabric of choice to cover canvas with staple gun or small nails and hammer

Start by painting the letter(s) of the monogram with the acrylic paint in your desired color. It will need two or three coats, and you'll want the paint to dry completely between each coat, then let dry for 24 hours before adhering to the raw wood.

Take a damp towel and wipe down the birch wood (or wood of choice). Get any wood dust or particles removed before gluing the monogram letter(s) on. Use wood glue and apply to the letter, then adhere to the birch wood with firm pressure. Use a Q-tip to remove any excess glue that presses out and into view. Allow to dry for 24 hours.

If painting your canvas, paint the canvas and allow to dry for at least 24 hours (if you're using acrylic or latex paint; longer if using oil based paint). If you're covering it in fabric like I did, cut your fabric to slightly longer than the canvas (enough to wrap around to the back side of the canvas and give you at least an inch of extra fabric to secure it to the wooden frame of the canvas). Use a staple gun (a regular stapler isn't strong enough to pierce the wood frame) or small craft nails to nail the canvas to the wooden frame.

Once your birch wood with the monogram letter(s) and canvas are ready, place the birch wood where you want it on the canvas. In order to hang straight on the wall, you'll need it to be as close to centered as possible - you'll also need to use the wooden bar across the back of your canvas to screw it in, so you'll have to think about all of that as you're positioning it. Mark the position location. Use small screws and your drill bit to screw from the backside to secure the birch wood monogram to the canvas. This way, no screws will show on the front, but everything will be very secure.

Hang in your nursery and enjoy! Remember that it's advised to NOT hang heavy art pieces like this over cribs that are flush with the wall, because it can fall onto your baby. We have several inches of space between the walls and the crib on all sides for this very reason! Should the artwork fall off the wall, it will slide down the wall and hit the floor, not fall into the crib. Also think about hanging it high enough so that it's not in danger of being pulled off the wall once your baby can stand in his crib, and grab at things.

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We're getting so close to meeting our twin boys, Knox and Theodore! Tough Love Teethers was kind enough to make me these beautiful custom teethers for them, but I had to wait until we were ready to share the names! I've had the name Theodore on my short list of boy names forever. I love how many nickname possibilities there are with it. As his mommy, I will, of course, call him Teddy and my older boys already call him baby Teddy. I got the name Knox from the magazine Southern Living. Several months ago they had an article that listed old fashioned Southern baby names and fell in love with it!

Knox is my Baby A and Teddy is my Baby B. So if all goes as planned via my birth plan, Knox will be the firstborn twin and Teddy will indeed be my baby Teddy. If I have to have a c section for some reason, that will be flipped and Teddy will be the firstborn. We'll see how it all pans out! Either way, I've got this adorable DIY monogram nursery craft hanging on the walls, ready to welcome them home.