Hello, Newfangled Housewife readers! My name is Diana, and I am a wife and mama who blogs over at Diana Meredith Designs. I share crafts, recipes, stories about my sweet baby girl and husband, and information about my etsy shop of crocheted goodies. Emily and I went to high school together, and she asked me to share a budget-friendly craft with you today.

My husband and I decided not to find out our first baby's gender before she was born. Despite the fact that most people thought we were a little crazy, we are very glad that we waited, and we enjoyed the surprise when our baby girl was born! Not finding out your baby's gender is fun for many reasons, but it does require that you go the gender-neutral route for nursery decor (unless you wait until after baby to decorate!). I was fine with going the gender-neutral route since we live in an apartment and can't paint the walls pink or blue anyway.

We had a very small budget for the nursery. When I say small, I mean that we basically had no budget unless it was something we absolutely needed. I wanted the nursery to be special, so I decided on a very loose theme. We found a nice, gently-used bassinet at a baby consignment store in yellow and gray, so that became the color scheme. I really like owls, so I decided to try to find some owl things for the nursery. After scouring etsy, I was disappointed that the owl art prints I liked were quite pricey. Being the craft-lover that I am, I figured I could make some art for the nursery for much cheaper.

One of my sisters-in-law is a graphic designer and very talented. She and my brother currently live in Italy (he is in the Air Force), but she came to visit us in May. I told her that I wanted to make some kind of nursery art with owls, and she designed a basic owl print for me using a design program (I think she used Adobe Illustrator). Using her print, I created several collages with card stock, and framed them for the nursery.

To make your own art collage, you will need:

• Card stock or scrapbook paper
• Frames (I used 5x7 frames from the Salvation Army that were about $1 each)
• A black and white outline print of an animal or other scene (teachers would call this a "blackline master" - looks like a coloring book page)
• Pencil
• Scissors or exacto blade
• Glue stick

Instructions:

1. Print out or draw the animal or scene that you want to create. Google is a great source if you don't have something already in mind.
2. Choose the papers you want to use. When assembled, this will be similar to a collage. I wanted to use the colors gray, yellow, blue, and green, so I decided which color I wanted to use for each part of the owl. For example, yellow for the beak and feet, gray for the body, blue for the wings, etc.
   

1. With a pencil, completely color the back of the print. This part is a bit messy, but my sister-in-law learned this technique in art school and it works well. :)
   
2. Turn the print back over and place it over the first color you will be using. Trace on the black lines of each part that you want in that color. Press down so that the pencil markings on the back of the print transfer onto the card stock. Repeat with each color as desired until you have all the parts of the animal traced. Some excess pencil marks may rub off onto your paper. You can either erase the marks or turn the paper to the other side to avoid them. If you would rather flip than erase and you are using one-sided paper, you'll need to trace onto the back so that you don't get marks on the desired side.
   
3. Cut out each part of the animal carefully.
4. Assemble all the parts of the animal, then glue each part in the correct place. If you wish, add details in pen or marker. I used marker to create the owl's pupils and some detailing to his wings and ears.
   
5. Frame your cute new art and hang!
   

This project is very versatile and could be adapted for many different projects. If you try it, I'd love to see your finished project! Head on over to my blog and say hello. :)

Thanks, Emily, for having me on your blog today!