I made these wall hangings for a friend of mine. Her nursery is being done in a cute elephant theme and her primary colors are brown and blue. You could really use this idea to match any design or decor. Here is how to make these for yourself.

What you need:

• Three 5 x 5 Paper Mache art boards ($2.99 at craft supply stores)
• Ribbon for hanging
• Scissors
• Acrylic paints and paint brushes
• Card stock for printing your design
• Permanent spray adhesive

Steps:

1. Remove rope strands from the boards and discard.
2. Choose a style of ribbon and cut 3 strands the exact same size.
3. Apply your base coat to cover the brown paper mache. Paint everything, including the back side.
4. Start painting! It helped me to sketch out my design on the computer before diving into painting. I used acrylic paints and paint brushes. All three boards were given a different pattern in the background.
5. I drew the elephant in Adobe Illustrator and chose two colors for the elephants. Then I printed them out on card stock and cut them out, leaving a little white border to help them stand out against the painted backgrounds.
6. I tested out the placement before adhering the paper elephants to the boards. Using permanent spray adhesive, I adhered the elephants to the boards. Tie on the ribbon to hang and your done!

To see a full-size photo of the finished product, go here.

UPDATE: After several requests, I’ve finally posted the pdf for you to download. Download here!