I knew I wanted to do a crown canopy over the crib from the moment we found out we were having a girl. I specifically wanted to know the gender of the baby ahead of time so I could plan the nursery accordingly. I understand the appeal of the surprise, but it was not for me. My little girl’s room is pinked out to the max.
I started my crown canopy search on Pinterest so I could get an idea of what I wanted. Then I branched out to Etsy, Amazon, etc. My plan was to purchase the crown to hang on the wall and then attach my choice of fabric. However, after a little research, the only thing I discovered was that the crowns were super expensive. I just was not willing to pay upwards of $80 for a decorative wall hanging. On to plan B. Make it myself!
Once I’d decided to make the crown myself, I had to start my research all over again. I actually found a vendor on Etsy that was selling wooden crowns. So I studied the pictures and came up with a plan for making one on my own. It probably wasn’t the most efficient process, but as usual, a lot can be learned from my mistakes.
My materials list consisted of the following:
Wood of Choice
Caulk
Nails
Small Wooden Rod
Drill
Curtains
Ribbon
Wall Hooks
Instructions:
I started by drawing out the pieces I wanted to cut out of my wood. I drew them by hand using a ruler. Looking back, I realize it would have been easier to just draw out one piece on a sheet of paper, cut it out, and trace it onto the wood 5 times so all the pieces were uniformly sized. Hindsight is 20/20.
Once my parts were drawn, I used the jig saw to cut them out. (Note: a scroll saw would be even better. I didn’t have one at the time of this post)
I assembled my cutouts to make sure they lined up correctly. This is the point at which I realized there was a lot more to this project than I’d initially anticipated. In order to get the curve of the crown that I wanted, I would have to angle the sides and bottom of every piece of wood. I’m not good enough with math to calculate those angles ahead of time. Also, I didn’t really have the proper tools for the job. Or maybe I did but didn’t know it. Either way, my method consisted of a lot of trial and error.
I used a combination of my jig saw and my sander to start shaving away the sides of my pieces in order to angle them. I can’t really explain how I managed to do this. It took a lot of time and patience. I would love to know the correct way to do this, because there is no way my method is right. I’m sure there’s a good tool for it.
Once I angled the sides of the pieces, I did the bottoms as well. Again, trial and error was my method of choice. Even now, after the project has been completed, I have no suggestion for a better way to go about it. Woodworking is not my strongest skill.
Once all my pieces were fitting together the way I wanted, I started the process of attaching them to one another. This is where my wood glue, staples, and staple gun came into play. I put a small line of wood glue between each piece, one at a time. I held them together long enough to dry so I could put a few staples on the inside of the crown as extra leverage.
After the 5 pieces were assembled, glued, and stapled, I secured them from the inside. I drilled two small holes on the back side of each end of the crown. Then I used some wood glue to attach a small dowel rod into the holes for added support.
I pressed each side in to let the wood glue set.
Once the base structure was secure, I started filling in the gaps in the wood. For the small cracks and holes, I used wood filler. For the larger seams on the front, I used the caulk, smoothing it out as I went along. I sanded everything once it was dry.
The next step was to add the wooden knobs to the top of each part. I did this by hammering in nails on the tops and using the wood glue to secure the knobs to the nails.
The knobs I purchased from Amazon already had small holes drilled into the bottom of them.
After all the assembly was done, I used a spray primer and gave the whole project 2 layers.
Then I applied a few layers of metallic gold spray paint and let that dry as well.
The next step was adding the curtains. I went back and forth about what kind of fabric to attach to the crown. In the end, curtains made the most sense. They were cheap, easy, and already the size I needed. I chose a sheer fabric so they wouldn’t draw too much focus away from the crown and the crib. I used two pieces of ribbon to tie the curtains to the rod on the back of the crown.
I originally used command hooks to attach the crown to the wall.
They moved freely and gave a little in case something snagged the curtain. It still made me nervous to have a baby sleeping under that though. So I eventually drilled more secure hooks into the wall making sure at least one was in a stud.
I used some Scotch tape to attach the ends of the curtains to either side of the crib to give it the canopy look.
The result was exactly what I was going for at a fraction of the cost.
A crib fit for a princess. LOVE!
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