Nursery-Friendly T-Rex Wall Hanging

I know--not too long ago, I said I was going to return to my roots as a daily blogger; but apparently I lied.  Well, it wasn't a lie, really, because I sincerely meant it when I said it.  I had the best intentions in the world.  But my last post was, let's see...on the 23rd.  And today is, let's see...the 28th.  So I fell down on the job there.

Not that many people would notice my blog absence, but I do have some very loyal family members who tell me they check in every day and feel like this--:(--when I haven't posted anything.  For instance, one niece sent me a birthday wish three days ago via Facebook, with this message: "I am not seeing a blog post celebrating you today!?"  Thank you, M--you are so sweet to miss me when I'm not here at String of Pearls.

I've been busy, though.  ("Yada, yada--like we're not all busy!"  Weak excuse, I know.)  There were airplane trips, birthday celebrations, baby showers, and that sort of thing.  And I'm tired.  And I tripped on a rock.  And the sun was in my eyes.

But really, I do find that it's hard to blog when I'm out of town visiting with loved ones.  And then sometimes while we're in the midst of fun activities (like getting things set up for a baby shower for Preciosa, my middle son's wife and the mommy of my pre-born grandson, "G-Man"), someone will say, "I hope we're going to see this on your blog!"  And then the pressure's on, because I don't want to disappoint anyone...and then I think, "Maybe I'll blog about this...but later."

So: you shall see pictures from the shower, and hear lots of other stories that I hope will amuse and interest you.  But for now, I thought I'd show you the gift I made for G-Man's nursery.  His daddy is a huge fan of dinosaurs in general and T-Rexes in particular, so even though G-Man has an absolutely lovely gray-and-blue, nautical-themed, tastefully appointed Pottery Barn bedroom, I didn't think it would be complete without a dinosaur included in the décor.  (And more importantly, after the gender reveal party back in May, my son hinted that maybe I could make something like this for his boy.)

I drew the outline of this friendly little T-Rex baby onto one inch-thick pine board, and I cut it out using my handy-dandy scroll saw.  Then I painted it with acrylics and gave it a coat of varnish.  I affixed a hanger to the back, so that he can be hung on the wall.

I went on-line looking for some images of kid-friendly, non-threatening-looking T-Rexes, and I found this one to use as inspiration for my project.

But he was too tall for the piece of board I was using, so I had to make some adjustments and drew mine shorter and chubbier. I do realize that the head of my T-Rex is much too big for its body; but that basically mirrors the head-to-body ratio of most babies, so I thought it worked!

I hope Grammy's made-with-love wall hanging causes the little guy to break out in a nice gummy, drooly smile someday--if it does, it will have fulfilled its destiny.

Have a great week, readers.  And I'll be back tomorrow.  (I think.  No, I will.  I mean, I hope.  You know what I mean; by now we're old friends, aren't we?)