One of my favorite books that belongs to my daughter is a gift from her great-grandmother, a nursery rhyme hardcover illustrated by Maud Humphrey. As soon as we opened the pages, I knew I would have to purchase another copy and use the illustrations for a project.
If I ever have another baby, I might actually design the entire nursery around these drawings. But for now, a simple accessory will have to do!
I found this little tray on clearance at JoAnn Fabrics & Crafts for $5 and I thought I could put it to good use.
I gave it a coat of some Old White Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and distressed the edges.
Next I cut out the nursery rhyme I wanted to feature. I chose Hush a Bye Baby. The colors were nice and earthy, plus it was one of my favorite songs to get my little angel to sleep. Actually, that’s a lie… She used to cry when I sang to her. I swear I don’t have a bad voice, it’s just that she hated my singing for some reason! So I guess this nursery rhyme has a little hidden meaning for me 
OK, I decided to tear the edges of the paper to keep with the vintage look and feel.
I used Mod Podge to secure down the illustration and gave it a couple of top coats to seal it in.
Voila! Isn’t she beautiful? I love the subtle colors and light distressing.
After finishing this project I think I’ve confirmed that I really do love this look and could design an entire nursery with this tray as inspiration!
Oh, that is just darling – what a lovely tray.
Oh and following back – your blog is so nice here!
So sweet. I love some of those old vintage books. What a great way to use the pretty pictures.
This is so cute! Love it!
Debbie
I LOVE everything about this – it is so gorgeous!!! I featured you today in my Friday I’m In Love Favorites.
http://socialsalutations.blogspot.com/2011/09/friday-im-in-love-week-15.html
– Jenn @ Social Salutations
I LOVE it. It would be a great piece of inspiration for an entire nursery!! Love the distressed look you gave it! Do you have any big plans for it now:)?
Haha! Not yet… but I’ll keep everyone updated
LOVE!! this project! It would be a perfect project to link to my Shabby Shares link party at http://rustic-crafts.com. I would love it if you would come and link up
Renee @ Rustic Crafts
Hey Erin! I am a recent follower to your blog and I adore your crafts. This is one of my favorites, such a cute idea!
That is so cute!
You did an amazing job on the tray! Loved how you distressed it and the image is so perfect for a nursery. Thanks for the inspiration! Found you over at Debbie’s Newbie party. Have a wonderful week!~Poppy
http://withadashofcolor.blogspot.com/
I love your sweet tray. And I agree that the illustrations could be a wonderful jumping off point for decorating a nursery. Super cute. I love Annie Sloan Chalk Paint too! I recently won a giveaway and am now a dedicated fan and customer. Nice job!
~Lynn
I love this! I love vintage pictures of babies and children. I am waiting to recieve my first ASCP tomorrow…can’t wait to paint for the first time with it…so exciting. Thanks for the ideas. Beautiful..thks, Linda
This is so lovely! Love the sentiment and the softness about it. Great job! Stopping by from {someday crafts}
This really is beautiful. I love the idea of using a favorite book as a nursery theme
That is just adorable! Doesn’t it make you want to have another baby just so you can decorate the nursery?
This is fabulous and a great tutorial. Thanks so much for sharing
Lowri
http://papervinenz.blogspot.com/
I can see why you’re so smitten with that book. What gorgeous vintage images! I love how you transformed your tray — positively lovely! So glad I saw your link-up on the Inspiration Board at Homework!
Jenn/Rook No. 17
that turned out sooo cute! i have some pages like that i need to try this with.
This is really beautiful and now you’ve made it into something you can use and enjoy! ♥
What a beautifull tray! I love it and think it would be wonderful to decorate a nursery using this!
I love this! I have several trays begging for a make-over. This is one of the best ideas I’ve seen. Saw you at A Little Knick Knack.
Just beautiful! I haven’t seen anything like this and I love how you tore the paper and the distressed tray. It couldn’t have turned out better. My favorite project of the week!
I love this! Such a great idea. I’d love if you’d share it at my blog hop this weekend.Hope you can join in!
That is just absolutely darling and beautiful! You did such a great job on that and I could totally see an entire nursery built around that. Thank you so much for sharing your talent and creativity with us this week at Inspiration Friday!
Vanessa
Gorgeous! I love the look of the old illustrations… makes me want to hang a few up anyway, even though my babies are 7, 10 and 13 now
I really love this tray. Adorable. I will be featuring it tonight at my Sizzle into Summer party that opens at 8pm EST. Please stop by and pick up an I’ve Been Featured button. Thanks.
WOW! Thanks so much Judy! I’ll be stopping by later this evening to party
I love the tray you made with the Mother Goose book from Maud Humphrey. I tried to find the book but they are $375′s. Do you know if there are reproductions cheaper? The tray you made is amazing!