I love reading blogs, but I have to admit that DIY blogs are not among my favorites. I think it is amazing what people create and even more amazing that they share their methods online for others to try. I personally find some projects far too time consuming and frankly expensive, making it risky for someone who is not very crafty. But sometimes I stumble across an idea or project that seems doable, and I give it a shot.

One such project was a baby shower gift for my coworker and friend who moved to Florida earlier this summer. Before she left, our work group threw her a surprise going away party/baby shower, and I wanted to send her off with something truly heartfelt and special. I knew she wanted an elephant theme for her nursery, and being Indian, she is well aware of the auspicious connotation of elephants. Importantly, their trunks need to be pointing upward to be considered good luck. While scrolling through Pinterest for elephant-inspired ideas, I came across a beautiful elephant made out of buttons:

I immediately fell in love with this piece and wanted to create something similar. I loved the color scheme of gray and blue, so I stuck to that palette when purchasing my supplies. I knew that using only buttons would be very tedious and could be messy, so I opted for bigger pearls and florals. I used to trace the outline of an elephant a lot as a kid, so this part was fairly easy. I then outlined the tracing with the pearls and filled in the details using large flowers. I wanted to add some “balloons” extending from the trunk to give it a more nursery room feel, and this was probably the most difficult part apart from framing it. Getting the yarn to stay down properly was a challenge, but eventually I got it right! Finally, I had to figure out how to frame it. I wanted it to be set back a bit within a frame, but I wasn’t learned in this method. I ended up purchasing a pre-framed piece of art from the arts and crafts store, ripping out the interior (sorry to whoever made that!), and placing my piece in with the glass behind the elephant. I could not put the glass in front because of the thick pearls and flowers not allowing it to be flush with the frame.

In the end, my friend loved it, and I’m delighted that she will have it in her soon to be baby boy’s nursery!