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Tag: toy animals turned decor

Toy Animal Instagram Photo Holder

I’ve been a little slow on sharing the progress of my boys room makeover, but believe me it’s almost done!  Except for the window panels that are still plain white (an idea will come to me at some point to jazz them up), the room is about 96.74% complete.  From the new wall color + the wallpaper, to the honeycomb shelves + the wood rolling toy bins, to the new leaning shelves, this room has been fully transformed from what it looked like before

One of the first DIY ideas that I thought about for this makeover (after seeing these animal photo holders) was to create something cute that could hold instagram pics (or any adorable picture for that matter).  It had to be something that pictures could easily be changed / swapped out.  And I loved the idea of using toy animals since we have a gazillion..

Voila, the creation of the Toy Animal Instagram Photo Holder

DIY: Toy Animal Instagram Photo Holder. So cute & easy to make. Perfect for a kids room or any eclectic space! Full tutorial at www.jennaburger.com

These cute little picture holders were pretty easy to make and I love how they give a new look to this part of my boys room.  The Ikea dresser was something we’ve had since he was about 2 years old, the mirror was repurposed from the kids bathroom (now they are mirror-less, o well), and the lamps were a recent clearance find at Target.

A few other accessories + layers and this space is coming together…

DIY: Toy Animal Instagram Photo Holder. So cute & easy to make. Perfect for a kids room or any eclectic space! Full tutorial at www.jennaburger.com

Want to see how I made them?  This is my original sketch, along with my supply list…

supply list

Here’s the supplies I used:

  • 2″ x 8″ x 4′ cut into into 8″ x 8″ squares (there will be wood leftover)
  • 3/4″ Round Magnets
  • Gorilla Glue (or any heavy duty, super sticky glue)
  • Toy Animals (I ransacked my kids toy bin, but you can find similar animals in the dollar bin or toy section)
  • Stain (I used leftover stain I had on-hand)
  • Command Strips
  • Level
  • Miter Saw (or have Lowe’s or other big box store cut the squares)
  • Coping Saw

DIY: Toy Animal Instagram Photo Holder. So cute & easy to make. Perfect for a kids room or any eclectic space! Full tutorial at www.jennaburger.com

Here’s the tutorial:

1. Using the miter saw, I started off by cutting the 4′ long wood board into (4) 8″ x 8″ squares.

DIY: Toy Animal Instagram Photo Holder. So cute & easy to make. Perfect for a kids room or any eclectic space! Full tutorial at www.jennaburger.com

2. Once the 4 squares were cut, I drilled a 3/4″ diameter hole (same size as the magnet) about 1.5″ from the edge. The hole only needs to be the depth of the magnet (don’t drill all the way through the wood) so it sits flush with the wood.  Once drilled, I placed the magnet in the hole to see if it was a good fit.

DIY: Toy Animal Instagram Photo Holder. So cute & easy to make. Perfect for a kids room or any eclectic space! Full tutorial at www.jennaburger.com

3. After all 4 squares had the magnet holes, I gave the surface a quick wipe-on / wipe-off staining.  I used espresso stain that I had on hand.  As soon as I poured it on, I wiped it away with a piece of lint-free cloth.  I still wanted to see the beauty of the grain, which is why I used stain versus paint.

DIY: Toy Animal Instagram Photo Holder. So cute & easy to make. Perfect for a kids room or any eclectic space! Full tutorial at www.jennaburger.com

4. Once the stain was dry, I adhered the magnet to the hole with Gorilla Glue.

DIY: Toy Animal Instagram Photo Holder. So cute & easy to make. Perfect for a kids room or any eclectic space! Full tutorial at www.jennaburger.com

Onto the toy animals…

5. Using a coping saw, the mister cut the animals in half.  It was a little weird & sad to chop these little guys in half, but it was all for good reason…

Tip: Toy animals that have a solid inside work best.  2 of the animals we cut were solid, 2 were hollow.  For the hollow animals, I packed them with play-doh, then inserted the magnet so it sit flush with where it was cut.  A few days later, the playdoh was completely hardened and the magnet fit snug inside just like the solid animal.  If needed, once the play-doh is hard, remove the magnet and add some gorilla glue or crazy glue.

DIY: Toy Animal Instagram Photo Holder. So cute & easy to make. Perfect for a kids room or any eclectic space! Full tutorial at www.jennaburger.com

6. Once the animal was cut, I drilled a 3/4″ diameter hole (same as the wood) for the magnet to sit inside.  Then I secured it with Gorilla Glue.

DIY: Toy Animal Instagram Photo Holder. So cute & easy to make. Perfect for a kids room or any eclectic space! Full tutorial at www.jennaburger.com

Let’s hang it!

7. I wanted the wood squares to sit flush with the wall versus using a picture hook, so I used Command Strips to hang them. And of course, I made sure they were level…

DIY: Toy Animal Instagram Photo Holder. So cute & easy to make. Perfect for a kids room or any eclectic space! Full tutorial at www.jennaburger.com

Once hung, the toy animal instagram photo holders were complete…

DIY: Toy Animal Instagram Photo Holder. So cute & easy to make. Perfect for a kids room or any eclectic space! Full tutorial at www.jennaburger.com

I filled the wood boards with a few of my boys favorite + funny instagram pics.  I actually just printed them from my computer, but there a bunch of places that develop instagram photos.  Or regular 4 x 6 or 5 x 7 photos will work too.

DIY: Toy Animal Instagram Photo Holder. So cute & easy to make. Perfect for a kids room or any eclectic space! Full tutorial at www.jennaburger.com

DIY: Toy Animal Instagram Photo Holder. So cute & easy to make. Perfect for a kids room or any eclectic space! Full tutorial at www.jennaburger.com

I love how this space turned out.  Here’s an overall…

DIY: Toy Animal Instagram Photo Holder. So cute & easy to make. Perfect for a kids room or any eclectic space! Full tutorial at www.jennaburger.com

DIY: Toy Animal Instagram Photo Holder. So cute & easy to make. Perfect for a kids room or any eclectic space! Full tutorial at www.jennaburger.com

Think this tutorial is fun + you may just want to try it?  Pin It or Save It for later…

DIY: Toy Animal Instagram Photo Holder. So cute & easy to make. Perfect for a kids room or any eclectic space! Full tutorial at www.jennaburger.com

Never thought you could do something with toy animals?  O, there are lots of ideas.  I have more interesting creative ideas coming soon… Stay Tuned!