One of the favorite projects I worked on for my son’s nursery was a 3D plush turtle for the wall. It’s easy to make and looks amazing on the nursery wall.
Design:
To get started, pick a simple design. I picked a turtle because it went with our nursery theme and it consists of multiple rectangles and a few rounded shapes that are simple to piece together. You could also arrange geometric shapes, slightly spaced apart, or do another simple design such as a flower. Sketch out the design on a sheet a paper and plan the dimensions. Remember to draw in clean simple lines and think “puzzle.”
Materials:
Next purchase 1/4″ foam board, 1″ foam, tag board and fabric in colors and patterns that match your nursery decor. You will also need permanent fabric glue, a utility knife, scissors, and a marker.
Draw:
Draw your design on the foam board using the marker.
Cut:
Using a utility knife, cut out the design in pieces, using your lines as a guide. Place each piece on top of the foam, trace, and cut. Place each piece on top of the fabric, leave a couple of inches to wrap around, and cut.
Glue:
Glue the foam pieces to their respective foam board piece using the permanent fabric glue. Place the fabric, right side down, on your workspace. Put the shape, foam side down, on top of the fabric. Drizzle fabric glue all over the backside (foam board) and stretch the fabric up and over the glue. Start on one side and work your way around, slightly overlapping as you go to create clean pleats around curves and corners. This step will get your fingers a little sticky, so be prepared. I recommend using Fabri-Tac since it works extremely well for this (and many other projects).
Arrange:
Arrange all the pieces on the tag board. Trace around the entire design, then remove the pieces and cut out the tag board shape an inch or so within the traced line. Glue the pieces back onto the tag board. This will hold the design together and provide a surface for attaching ribbon, wire or other material for hanging. The tag board should not be visible from the front.
Hang:
Once your 3D art piece is dry, you can attach wire or ribbon to the backside to hang on the wall on a nail. You can also add embellishments. I glued a wiggly eye to the turtle’s head and it turned out really cute.
