Baby Birth Door Hanger

Create your own rustic hospital/nursery door hanger. Perfect for the woodland nursery, this hanger has it all: buffalo plaid, "suspenders", bears, and wood.

I found this beautiful chalkboard hanger on sale at Hobby Lobby. My original plan was to make my husband cut a plywood circle for me, but at less than $15 for the perfect size hanger with the wooden bead rope already attached, I couldn't pass that up. Plus, I made my husband happy by not giving him yet another job on his Honeydo List. I also got the metal bear on sale at Hobby Lobby and was surprised when it fit in the chalkboard perfectly! And all my husband had to do was pull the metal hangers off the back instead of cut one out for me.

I used 5" and 3/4"wide burlap ribbon. Cut the ribbon to roughly the same length as the chalkboard. My board was just under 16" in diameter so I need 3 strips of 5" and 2 strips of 3/4" ribbon.

Start by centering the first strip and work your way out. Brush a thin layer of Mod Podge down the center and press the ribbon down. You should have a little overhang on the top and bottom. Don't worry, you will cut this off. Do the same with the sides one-at-a-time, lining the ribbon edge to edge. You will have overhang on the sides as well.

Next, use the 3/4" ribbon to cover the seams created when you butted the ribbon strips against each other. I used a tan burlap for this part to create the look of a plaid shirt and suspenders. To attach the smaller ribbon use a thin layer of hot glue down the seam. You do not want to make the glue too thick or it will be visible through your ribbon. Then trim the excess ribbon the same way you did in the previous step.

*To save your fingers from getting burned, try using an empty water bottle using the lid to push the ribbon down.

Using a rotary cutter, work your way around the inside edge of the board trimming any excess burlap. Since I was cutting burlap on wood, I used a cheap rotary cutter from Dollar Tree so I wouldn't dull the blade of my good cutter. It works best if you tilt your blade into the crack between the chalkboard and the wooden frame so you get the closest cut.

Create the baby's name and the birth information labels using a Cricut. I have the Cricut Joy, so to make the name large enough I had to print it in two different steps. Once you have the labels cut and weeded, use transfer tape to attach them to the bear and wood slices. The vinyl did not want to stick well to the wood, so be very careful and press the letters down well.

*If you didn't already know, peel and stick contact paper (the kind you find in Grandma's kitchen cabinets) works great as transfer tape, plus costs a whole lot less.

Attach the bear to the center of the board using hot glue. If you are worried about the hold, especially if your bear is smaller and doesn't fit into the cracks of the board like mine, you may want to use some super glue as well.

Hot glue or super glue buttons to the bottom of the 3/4" ribbon. This will give it the look of suspenders.

*As an added bonus, the buttons I used are some I inherited from my husband's grandmother (who was an avid sewer, quilter, and crafter) when she passed. Since this hanger is for my niece, she has a little piece of her great-grandmother in her baby's room.

Screw one hook in the center of the board then measure to space the other two hooks at an equal distance from the center hook. Then attach a hook to each wood slice. If you are using a soft wood like I did, you can easily screw the hooks in by hand. If you use a harder wood, you may need to use a drill to make a small hole first.

Using Jute, tie the wood slices to the hanger making the center slice hang slightly lower than the outside slices. Hot glue the extra string to the back. Not only will this make overall look neater, it will help prevent the string from coming untied.

Your birth announcement hanger is now completed. I hope you enjoyed learning how to make this rustic door hanger.

*Once my great nephew arrives in a few weeks, I will use a paint pen to write in his birth information on the wood slices. She can hang this on her hospital door, then use it in his woodland nursery.