Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Murals!

I was searching through some old photos the other day on my computer and found some from when I painted a mural on Claire's wall.

I had purchased some 'decorative stickers' from Ikea and after a few weeks, they had begun to peel off the wall. It got to the point where Claire would wake up from a nap and be covered in a stem or a petal from the sticker flower. I figured then, that enough was enough.

Painting murals don't have to be difficult. You don't even have to be artistic, really. It does help, though.

Fortunately for me, I do have a small (very small) background on art and was able to make a pretty neat, and involved, wall mural for Miss Claire.



Here's how it went down:
What you need:
1. Acrylic paint
2. Tape and more tape
3. Poster board or thin cardboard
4. Small paint brushes, varying in size
5. PATIENCE.
6. Chalk

I sent Claire to my Mom's for the day, so I would be able to finish it without wanting to hurt myself.

The rest is based on your creativity and ambition. I'd post a step by step guide (and I had started to type it) but to be honest, I did most of it free handed. I did, however, tape out the stems.

The birds and 'happy sun' (as Claire calls it) is courtesy of Noggin's music video for Bob Marley's "Three Birds." Again, free handed.

The best part? When Claire gets sick of it, all I have to do is take a 240 or so piece of sand paper, gently sand the top of the paint and then paint on over. That's why I chose acrylic paint.

When Luca moves into his new room once the baby is born, I plan on giving him something too for his walls. I'm still kind of up in the air, since I tend to refuse to do anything 'cutsie' or seen on Nickelodeon. (Other than something related to Bob Marley.) I'm more into the whole contemporary and modern notion. It seems to me that it's more timeless.

Where was I going with this post?

Oh yah. Murals. Matt likes it because he says it's one less hole in the wall. I like it because I made it. Claire likes it because it makes her happy. All in all, I say, if you own your home, have some free time and are feeling extremely creative, go for it!

Any questions, I'm happy to answer them.

2 comments:

Sara said...

That is so adorable!! I can't wait to have kids just so I can decorate their rooms. : )

Bachelor Girl said...

You are so unbelievably creative! I would've been OVER THE MOON for this when I was a wee Kel.