While babies won't be able to read, it's important to start reading to children at a young age. Even as infants, they can see the colorful and interesting covers of books and learn things about the world around them through books. Therefore, they'll need some bookshelves and bookends. Try making elephant bookends using cheap plastic toys from the dollar store. You can customize them like Cassie from hi sugarplum! did using the instructions in this article so that they look more like baby nursery decorations and work better as bookends.

Elephants are cute, and children often love animals and elephants in particular. There’s one thing that's cuter than baby elephants, however: baby elephants. In particular, baby and mama elephants together are adorable, and images of a mama and a baby elephant together are an excellent way to promote empathy in a baby. Think about getting an elephant lamp like this one from Amazon, or find a similar decoration that shows a mama and baby elephant together.

A nursery needs a laundry basket since babies soil clothes quickly, and it's essential to have a convenient place to drop the dirty clothes, sheets, and towels. Since the theme is elephants, or you're a fan of elephant decor, think about making an elephant laundry basket. You can use these instructions from The Lovely Drawer to make the basket. While the basket they made was a bear, you can modify the craft to make a similar basket as an elephant.

Since elephants are grey, you'll want to use some grey in the nursery with them, even if you have images of multicolored elephants around. If you have realistic elephants or elephant pictures and books, then you'll also want some grey to match them. You can paint the furniture of walls grey, but if you don't want an overwhelming amount of it, try getting pale grey bins like these ones from Amazon. You could even look for grey bins with elephants on them, depending on how much elephant decor you want.

Don't forget to think about what toys you want in the nursery. While rattles, dolls, and blocks might seem like obvious and generic toys, you can get elephant-themed toys like elephant puzzles for young children and toddlers. Your baby might not be putting together puzzles right away, but the puzzle will be an excellent decoration until they're ready to play with it. If you like the idea, you can use these instructions from Ugly Duckling House to make an elephant puzzle of your own.

Mobiles are a vital part of a nursery since babies spend a lot of their time on their backs looking up at them, so you'll want to make sure the baby has a good one. You can get an elephant mobile like this one from Walmart, with realistic colors, or look for a thematic one, such as a pink mobile for a girl's room. If you want something even more interesting, try getting one with a variety of animals or with elephants in a few different colors. This one from Walmart has elephants, stars, and clouds.

Since elephants are grey, you'll want some grey elephant decorations so that your baby can see the correct color, but you might want a little more than plain grey. If you have a little girl, you can add in some pink by getting pink sheets like these with grey elephants on them. Pink and grey look good together and create a soft look that works well for a baby girl's nursery. Try getting light blue things with grey elephants for a baby boy.

Wall art is an important part of decorating, but it can be expensive. If you want elephant decorations but don't want to spend the money, or if you prefer a homemade or old-fashioned touch, you can make your own wall art using these instructions by Jenne from Rain on a Tin Roof. The wall art looks old fashioned with a realistic picture of an elephant and texture that will interest your baby. Since you're making it yourself, you can customize the colors to fit the nursery color scheme.

Elephants are cute, at least when they're made into caricatures and put into nurseries. Look for cute baby elephant decorations like this adorable baby elephant wall art. The tiny elephant in this wall art is playing with a balloon, and the set includes inspirational messages for your little one to go with the adorable and determined little elephant. Since the balloon in the pictures is blue, the wall art fits best in a boy's room, but you can place it in a girls' nursery or get similar wall art with different colors.

Lettering with a baby's name on it is a creative and fun way to make a nursery feel like it belongs to the baby. Instead of buying wall art from a store, you can make your own so that you can customize it. Use the instructions in this article by Jillian Warner from hello splendid to learn how you can make fabric letters for your baby's wall. Get cloth with elephants in it to customize it and make it into elephant-themed decorations.

Since elephants are typically grey, you'll want some realistic-colored grey elephants in the nursery. This means you need to find other colors that look good with grey. Try getting yellow bedding with grey elephants like this from Amazon. The yellow and grey combination is gender-neutral, so you can use it in any nursery or reuse it if you have two children of different genders. Yellow and grey look good together, creating a soft color combination that will let the baby sleep restfully.

If you're on a budget, you might want to create your own wall art, but elephants are a complicated thing to make on your own. You can use these instructions by Eileen from Just Measuring Up to make elephant wall art out of cloth. The cloth will make the art look softer and help expose your baby to different textures while softening the entire room. You can even use the same instructions for a few other animals to keep your elephant company.