How to make a Bird Mobile

Summer tweets Bird mobile

I just love anything to do with birds when it comes to decor so I thought I’d share this bird mobile project with you that I can across today on The Red Thread.

I’ve featured a bird mobile before here, but this one is so cute too, and worthy of note.
Make it as a gift for a baby shower or create it with your child using up old scraps of fabric. A great rainy day project that can be done in stages if necessary for your own child’s room. Mind you it’ll be just as lovely in an adult room too or hanging in a tree on a warm evening amongst some fairy lights.

You will need

- Newspaper
- Scissors
- Sicky tape
- PVA glue
- Brightly coloured fabric scraps
- Rattan cane hoops (from craft shops). 20 – 24cm [8 - 9.5 inches] in diameter
- 4 -5 cm [2 inches] diameter styrofoam balls – optional
- Embroidery thread
- Long needle

It’s not hard.
Click here to read the full instructions on The Red Thread blog

Silhouette Murals -Again!

Oh OK! I know I did a post recently on Silhouette murals, but I’m doing another one because by all accounts silhouette murals are a winner!BECAUSE..

1. They are easy to so.
2. They are cheap as far as paint goes.You only need one colour (Great budget decor idea!)
3. They can be as subtle or as bold as you like.

So the reason why I thought I’d bring them up again is because of these new Silhouette mural designs with a Safari theme.

Whimsical AND sophisticated!
Paint by number paper patterns
Paint the silhouettes in a dark brown over lavender, pink or any other colour to make a bold statement.

For a more subtle look paint it in a colour slightly lighter or darker than your wall colour. You can even repeat and reverse parts or the entire mural.

How cute are these?

I’m back! Look what I did with my bathroom

Helloooo ‘I’m Back’

I took a couple of weeks off during the French school holidays to do ‘kids stuff’ and do a bit of DIY on my house.

It took me a bit of time, but it was easy and I thought I’d share this bathroom mosaic  idea with you so you can see what you can do with very little money and a bit of elbow grease.

The light ‘plays’ on the slightly uneven tiles creating an interesting effect.

Plain white tiles need not be boring!

Our bathroom had been in a state of semi completion for 4 years, and it got that we didn’t even see the unfinished condition we got so used to it.
We had built the wooden support for tiling around the bath, but never got round to actually tiling it.

Money is tight, so I couldn’t afford all those beautiful bathroom tiles I keep seeing.

The budget stretched only to those cheap white tiles (you can’t get cheaper)! They worked out a at about £3 a square meter ($4.55). I needed 3 boxes.
The adhesive and grout was about £30 ($45)
The silver border tiles along the top were the most expensive thing at £1.80 and I needed 18 of them (I splashed out on those),(excuse the pun) £32.40.

So the whole lot cost me approximately £72 ($110)

With a bit of simple cutting with the aid of a tile cutter and pincers I created a white on white mosaic with a simple spiral pattern that started on the short end of the bath and curled onto the long side of the bath.

At the cente of each spiral is a black square tile, because I thought that was a good idea

• I began by measuring where I wanted the whole tiled area to be and drew the straight edges in makig sure it was all straight and level.
• Next I drew a spiral on the wall in chalk. Rubbing it out and redrawing until I was happy with the shape.
• I cut a number of tiles in equal halves and glued them down as my border.
• Next I cut 3 cm wide bands of tile with the tile cutter which I could then easily break into smaller rectangles. These I used to create the spiral, glueing them down along my chalk line.
• With the design in place, it was just a matter of cutting up the tiles in random shapes to begin with and glueing them down. As I filled up the space with random shapes, I needed to cut the smaller areas to fit. I traced the shapes roughly onto paper and marked the shape on a tile, cutting and snipping it to the right shape until it fitted the space and glued it in. This was the most time consuming part.
• I found a wall mountable soap dish on ebay and this was glued in with the tiles.
• Next I glued the silver border along the top of the mosiac for a finishing touch.
• I left the tile adhesive to dry for a good day, and then grouted the whole lot with a white grout.

The bath surround finished, I didn’t stop there!
I created two panels either side of the sink mirror. (The mirror will be getting some revamping later)

That done, I gave the toilet to the same treatment.

You can see the lumpy bumpy walls here.
Mosaics cover this problem nicely as the small pieces can be uneven and it doesn’t matter once it’s all grouted
(The grout wasn’t quite dry so looks a bit darker than it is when it’s dry)

But guess what!

It’s still not finished.
I still have to skim the walls with some great stuff you can buy here in France called Crepi.

It’s a kind of ready mixed plaster. I can skim it over the walls with a slightly rough finish that looks really nice, and the beauty of it is that it is cheaper than paint, covers lumpy bumpy old french walls really nicely and it comes mixed in a lovely creamy colour that will go nicely with the faux marbled side panels I made 4 years ago.
I think that should tie the whole thing together nicely.

I may give the bathroom mirror a bit of TLC too and bring some silver into it somehow.

Then there is a curtain to be made for the linen cupboard which has no door. I have some fabric, which will be cheaper than getting a door made to fit.

When I’ve done all that I’ll post some more pictures.

So! What do you think?

Jungle Room theme

How to create a Zebra stripe chair for a Jungle room theme or Savanna Room theme

Wow,  isn’t this a stunning piece of children’s furniture!
Hand carved and hand painted, this numbered, Limited First Edition original is truly a piece of art from Bellacor.

As beautiful as it is, it is well beyond my budget for my child’s bedroom.

So, here’s an idea for you to create a zebra (or tiger striped) chair yourself.

Ok, it’s not going to be a handcarved heirloom, but it’s going to be a fun and inexpensive detail for your child’s jungle themed room.

You will need.
A wooden chair or chairs that has been painted white.
We used and Ikea chair.  They have bigger ones too for an older child.

Some transfer paper
A zebra/tiger stripe design(see below)
Black paint (enamel)
A small pointed paint brush
A larger paint brush (One half inch) for larger areas

• Trace the stripes onto the chair by copying the design below (right click and copy the design to your computer). Print it out and enlarge it on a photocopy to the size of stripes you like.
• Tape some carbon paper to the back of the design and tape it onto the seat of the chair. Trace the design onto the chair by drawing over the paper with a ball point pen, tranfering the design to the surface of the chair.
• Repeat on the legs or if you wish, simply draw the stripes freehand using the design as a reference.
• Begin by painting in the edges of the stripes with a fine brush. Fill in with the larger brush.
• Allow to dry and protect with a coat of varnish.

Of course you don’t have to stick to Black paint.

Any colour would look good, and if you want tiger stripes, then orange would be a great choice

You could even paint each one a different colour for a really bright fun look.

Children’s lampshades

I was delighted to discover Fog And Thistles paper cutout night lights.
Their simplicity and charm are quite delightful.

They’re not too expensive either Priced at $27.

You can see more of Rachel Webers Cut Paper Art and lighting in her Etsy store or check out her blog Fog and Thistle

Making a paper cutout lampshade

Cut out paper shapes are a great way to dress up and rejuvenate old boring lampshades.
During the day they may look quite plain like Rachel’s design below, but at night they come to life.

How to make a lampshade yourself

Cut out simple shapes in black paper and glue them to the inside of a plain lampshade with spray glue.

Chica and Joe have done a similar thing with a cityscape.

During the day all you see is the ribbon that was sewn down the middle with a thick white stitch and added to the bottom of the lampshade to look like a street.

If you find that a bit plain, there’s no reason why you couldn’t paint or stick the same design in colour to the outside of the lampshade making sure you positioned the design directly over the black paper inside the shade.

and/or

Add decorative elements to the bottom of the shade like beads, ribbons, feathers, tassled fringes (whatever you can find) hanging down from the shade to add interest.

Like this from Roberts Media Team, but fewer bits and pieces if you want the cutout design to show through!!
(Great site by the way)

Where can you find cutout shape ideas?

Search on the internet for Free Clip art Silhouettes and you’ll find loads to choose from THIS SITE

Have fun and tell me about it!