Personalize a Nursery: Planes, Trains, and Trucks Banner

 It felt a little silly when we bought a house with four bedrooms even though it was just the two of us and Scout at the time. Scout doesn't realize that he is a dog and sleeps in our room so we ended up having what were basically three guest rooms. I filled one of them with office furniture, books, and crafting supplies and turned the closet into office supply storage. The two bedrooms that used to belong to the boy and girl that lived here before us were blue and purple. I started working full time before we even moved in so we put beds in those rooms and really didn't look at them again. We had no need for guest rooms anymore after military orders somehow stationed us in our hometown and our visiting family no longer needed to stay the night! Of course the hope, as always, was that the rooms would be for our own children but after so many years waiting we were never certain that was going to happen. Looking back I find it interesting that I didn't paint those rooms right away, like they still belonged to the little ones who had lived here before until mine was ready to move in.

Four months after we moved in, we were beyond any word that goes here when we found out we were going to have a baby. When we found out that we were having a boy I decided that I wanted to decorate his room in red, white, and khaki/beige. I know I've mentioned before how I love red. I just can't get enough of it. Part of the reason I got married in December was so that my wedding dress could be red and white. I really like the way touches of red work in a boy's nursery in place of blue and made up my mind as much as any pregnant mind can be made up that I would avoid using blue. The response when people shopped our registry for baby gifts was amusing because people really, REALLY want to buy something blue for a boy and there was not a single blue item on there!

We chose Benjamin Moore's Bleeker Beige for the wall color. It reminds me of a great pair of khakis that go with whatever shirt you are wearing. Decorating a room without using themes that can be overdone or common nursery colors and without spending a fortune required me to make my own wall hangings and repurpose others. I made the letter N shadowbox wall hanging with ribbon and scrapbook paper and had the red star already. I had a collection of Ikea Bastis hooks because I loved them as leash hangers and just because they are so adorable. I knew they would be fun to use for the banner hangers. Puppy dog tails in a boy's room. What could possibly be any cuter?!

I made the banner for the nursery using some of my favorite red and white gingham and thick white scrapbook papers. Our boy loves trains, planes, trucks, and helicopters so I'm glad I chose pictures of things that represent what he likes rather than hanging a banner that I saw for sale somewhere that was popular at the moment. He can enjoy looking at it from his crib now and it will look cute in his room over time as he grows into toddler and little boy styles. (Why do they have to do that?)
I used clip art for the truck, planes, and train, traced them onto the white scrapbook paper and then cut out and glued them to the gingham paper. I threaded white yarn through and hung both sides with the puppy dog tails. It was a quick project and I always intended to laminate or mod podge the paper to make it more durable.  I hung the banner under a monogram made from Pottery Barn Kids letter decals. For a long time the banner hung in the nursery like this:

Not too bad for a sleep deprived mom who admittedly struggled with time management to the point of eating in the shower. Almost a year went by and I realized it was time to get to work finishing it or the banner might be damaged when we move. I took thick poster board and cut backing triangles for each pennant. I used spray adhesive to attach them and then applied several coats of mod podge to make them stiff and durable. Here is the new banner:

 I love the sweet and personal touch that it gives the room and my little one loves to look at it. Above all, it is a good feeling to know that I made it just for him.

For the most part, I managed to keep the color blue out of the nursery, but this Noah's ark mobile is one of my favorite things in the room. I found and just fell in love with it at Mango Tree Imports, a fair trade retail store in Ballston Spa, NY.  It is bright, unique, perfect because my son's name is Noah, and I think it will continue to work in his room as he gets older without seeming too babyish. There is so much to look at on this mobile and it's so beautifully made, it steals the show. We like to spin it and watch as the animals fly out to the side like the swings ride at the fair.

There is a lot to be said for making sure items in a child's room have personal meaning and aren't just a trend or a hot at the moment theme. I'm sure there is going to come a day when he wants me to buy him Chuggington bedding or some other character related decor so I wasn't in a hurry to force any on him when he was still too young to tell the difference between the Very Hungry Caterpillar and the Itsy Bitsy Spider.
Hope you enjoyed this little nursery tour! If you made a banner for your little one, are they a "planes, trains, and trucks" baby or what items would represent them best?


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