When I was starting to design Ethan's nursery, I knew I wanted a jungle animal theme. I also knew I wanted it to be unique and grow with him.
I saw some letter name banners at a designer baby store that I love, but not only are they expensive (for paper letters!), but the powder blue prints didn't say "lions and tigers and bears--oh my!" Instead of getting wrapped up in the details, I decided to create a banner myself!
I wanted to stick with the animal theme for the letters. I started in the scrap book section at the craft store, and purchased a few animal print pages (Although... the designer edition I saw used wallpaper--You could even use leftover wrapping paper or pretty gift bags and make it for free!).
The "how to"
I used the computer, picked a letter style, and typed out ETHAN in a large font size (I believe I used 72pt). I printed out the letters, traced them onto my animal print paper, and cut them out. Stopping now would leave the paper flimsy and prone to curling. To give the letters strength and shine, I used a spray on acrylic (a matte spray would reduce the amount of shine). The acrylic should be applied to both sides of the letters to keep them nice, solid, and without curl. I put approximately three coats on each side, alternating between sides to reduce the tendency to curl. Then it's just the trusty hot glue gun and some ribbon. I used a sheer white ribbon to not clash with the animal print, but some pretty polka-dot ribbon could be really nice with some bright patterned letters.
Super easy project on a dime--Great for kids of all ages!