Making an R for Baby Ruby

Our nephew and his wife had their first baby in July. They named her Ruby and she is so tiny and beautiful. I had asked my brother if we were to make something for her nursery, what color should we paint it. He sent along a picture of the nursery and we were all set to get to work. First we had to determine the size for the letter R and then pick a script for her name.

With that all figured out, we printed it out on two pieces of paper and taped them together before heading out to the workshop. Jim took the printout of the R and traced it onto a piece of MDF. Then it was over to the bandsaw to cut out the shape, and finish off the inside of the R with the jigsaw.

While he was doing that, I took the full name and traced it onto a piece of luan plywood using tracing paper and a pencil.

Then Jim cut that out on the scroll saw.

With everything cut, Jim sanded the R and I brought both pieces into the paint room. Since the nursery is done in grey and white, I chose to make the letter R white. So I put on a coat of primer and then gave it a thorough sanding before two coats of white paint.

Just so you know…not everything goes exactly as planned. The script for her name turned out to be a little more delicate than we had imagined and after it was primed I was very carefully sanding it when this happened…

The break in the letter U could be glued back together, but the Y was going to have to stay separate. Sigh…so with a little rejigging it was time for paint. All other paint was applied with a brush, but we decided to use spray paint for the name to make sure we got into all the nooks and crannies.

After letting everything dry overnight we were ready to attach the two three pieces together.

We added some weights to make sure there was plenty of contact with the glue.

Then we attached a hanger to the back so it could be hung on her nursery wall.

I just love this project. Hope they do too!

Later