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Reality Daydream

The Dream is Free, The Hustle Sold Separately

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Baby Profile Plaques (with tutorial)

November 14, 2011 by Bethany Sy

We’re back at it with baby crafts! But unlike this footprint baby craft, this one didn’t require active participation from our twinfants. And to change things up a bit, I’m going to show you the finished product first so you don’t have to scroll through this long post to see them all finished if you don’t really care about the process by which we made them!

I give you… our profile plaques of our sweet babies!

Isn’t it incredible how different their head-shapes are? And their noses are totally different too… so weird!

Ok, so let’s get to business and discuss how we made these suckers! We started out with a plank of oak wood (because we love the grain of oak!) and cut each piece 11.5′ x 15″.  You can use any dimensions you want!

Then Nick used his router to make the edges decorative and finished-looking. As you can tell, he’s very enthusiastic about this project!

And we got down and dirty with our Minwax Ebony stain… LOVE THAT STUFF!

We didn’t go all the way down the edges on the second one because we realized all that would end up being painted white, so why bother?! Then we hit ’em with a couple coats of poly.

My ex-coworker Dana gave us some beautiful vinyl wall art that she MADE for us (check out her Facebook page HERE) as a baby gift that we were so excited to use for this project. And we had some contact paper to use for the profiles! I was really worried about the ‘crispness’ of the edges after the white paint went on, so I did a little practice sample board using a leftover chunk of oak. I polyed it twice (just like the plaques) and after it dried, I put 4 strips of contact paper on and did some tests using spray primer, brush-on primer, straight up spray paint, and a coat of poly. I’m soooo glad I did this! It was very helpful, and allowed me to determine that putting a coat of poly directly onto the contact paper really helped seal the edges. Then I just primed and spray painted after that and got a perfectly crisp clean line!

So next, we carefully put on the vinyl name decals (which involved some frantic calls to Dana to make sure we were doing it right). We have NO experience with vinyl wall art. But we got ’em on nice and straight.

Then we printed the girls profiles (we took their picture when they were sleeping) and printed them on paper first to make sure they were the right size and so that I could practice cutting them out with scissors. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be! It just took some concentration and a steady hand.

Kinda creepy, eh?

And finally we printed them right onto the contact paper and carefully cut them out, peeled back the backing, and pressed their little faces right onto the plaque! I didn’t figure out exactly where the center was, I just eyed it and made sure that their faces were looking straight forward.

They then got two coats of poly.

Once the poly was dry (about 4 hours) I hit ’em with spray Kilz primer. And an hour later, I hit ’em with Rustoleum flat white spray paint.

I only let the paint dry for about 10 minutes before I started peeling back the contact paper and vinyl. I wanted the paint to still be tacky so it wouldn’t be so dry that it would pull back the paint and make for a messy edge.

All pieces came off so easily… it was SUCH instant gratification! And seeing that beautiful wood grain popping through… Wow. Incredible.

These babies (no pun) got a comb hook on the back, and they were ready to go! Easily done in a day if you have everything on hand and/or don’t live in the wilderness so far from civilization that you’re not about to make a special trip to town for Kilz primer or contact paper, or whatever you don’t have.  🙂

And I love that we have these beautiful custom plaques that are timeless and meaningful! The girls can cherish these for many years! And it might even be fun to make a new one every year to show how they change year by year.

Give it a try! And send me pics when you’re done! I can’t wait to see how yours turns out! We’re also posting these on our Etsy shop if you’d like us to make one for YOUR child(ren)! Go check our our Etsy shop HERE!

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About Bethany Sy

Nick and Bethany Sy are the creative free-spirits behind DIY/Lifestyle blog, Reality Daydream. They recently purchased a historic mansion and have been documenting the ups and downs of renovation and making this home their own... all while sharing tips and tutorials along the way! When they found themselves in the trenches of infertility, they started a journey that would prove to be their most important DIY project ever, and have 3 beautiful girls to show for it. <3

« 4 Months… can you believe it?!
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Comments

  1. 9

    johansmith9870 says

    October 30, 2021 at 5:04 pm

    I enjoyed read over your blog post. Your blog have nice information, I got good ideas from this amazing blog. I am always searching for this type blog post.

    Reply
  2. 10

    sheenwan70 says

    October 26, 2021 at 5:46 am

    Thank you so much for sharing such useful and interesting information

    Reply
  3. 11

    Fandi says

    December 19, 2013 at 2:47 am

    Hey, Mike ! ^^Glad to see you sold both of them. Adorable paintings by the way. Are you wonikrg on a new bunch ? I keep an eye on your blog anyway.Des bises e0 Alex et toi.J.

    Reply
  4. 12

    Tobey says

    February 20, 2012 at 4:19 am

    I love these, they are gorgeous. You did a fantastic job, your babies are adorable. I just found your blog and love it love it. Will be following it for sure.

    Reply
  5. 13

    melissa says

    January 13, 2012 at 11:15 pm

    You don’t know me, but I just LOVE your blog!!!!! You have the best ideas!

    Reply
  6. 14

    Anonymous says

    November 15, 2011 at 9:28 pm

    nice work! –Nicole

    Reply
  7. 15

    .Amelia.Bedelia. says

    November 14, 2011 at 6:22 pm

    Um… these are gorgeous! I love the wood showing through, with the contrast of white! FANTASTIC! and very special!!
    -Amy

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Palm Branch Inspired Art Panels - Sawdust and Embryos says:
    July 24, 2015 at 7:23 am

    […] / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / […]

    Reply
  2. Cutout Silhouette Plaques - Sawdust and Embryos says:
    June 5, 2015 at 7:25 am

    […] If you’ve been around our little blog for a few moons, you might remember that we made wall plaques with the girls’ silhouettes when they were babes. We used slabs of oak and vinyl as a stencil to paint over. (Full Tutorial HERE) […]

    Reply

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We are Nick and Bethany! Welcome to our blog, Reality Daydream where we share our DIY adventures!

realitydaydream

Still can’t get over these shelves. 😍 These Still can’t get over these shelves. 😍

These Aksel Radius Floating Shelves by @shelfology are the perfect finishing touch to this wall in our kitchen. 🙌

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I needed an instant-gratification project today fo I needed an instant-gratification project today for my well-being, and this little wooden stand was so fun and fast!

Details and links to everything in this pic in Stories!
If ya just need a slab of wood, grab a cutting boa If ya just need a slab of wood, grab a cutting board when you’re at Target or Walmart! They’re made of hard wood!

I used this cutting board to experiment and make some prototypes for a large-scale piece of art I’m doing for our church. It’s got me EXCITED!

Follow along for that project- happening soooon!

@dapproducts @dremel @jet.woodworking
You’ve all seen the video, but here’s some sti You’ve all seen the video, but here’s some still shots of the kitchen wall in all its glory!! 

The Aksel Radius Floating Shelves by @shelfology were the perfect finishing touch! 

Should I do a house tour of our main floor this week?!?! 🙌🌿

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View of our entryway of our historic mansion that we're slowly renovating and making our own.
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Attention: Almost any do-it-yourself project involves risk of some sort. Your tools, materials, and skills will vary, as will the conditions at your project site. Reality Daydream has made every effort to be complete and accurate in the instructions of the plans on this website. Reality Daydream will not assume any responsibility or liability for damages or losses sustained or incurred in the course of your project or in the use of the item you create. Always follow the manufacturer’s operating instructions in the use of tools, check and follow your local building codes, and observe all commonly accepted safety precautions.

 

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