Silhouette murals

Keeping it Simple

If you want to keep it really simple as far as painting goes, consider a  silhouette mural.
Silhouettes don’t need to be black, personally I think  it’s better if they aren’t, especially in a child’s bedroom.

Willow tree and bunny mural available at The Magic Mural Factory & Wallstory Murals

Brown on blue or brown on a pink background look both look fantastic together.

Silhouette boys from the  Magic Mural factory

You could even go for a subtler look, by painting your background a pale colour and paint your silhouettes a shade darker than the background.

DROOL!  -Hannon Artworks

Where to find a silhouette image

Loads of subjects could make a great silhouette, as long as the form is simple and clear.

Find an image in a chosen theme.
Trace the outline of the picture and voila you have a silhouette.
Enlarge your image with the aid of a photocopier, or trace it onto transparent film and enlarge the image onto the wall using an overhead projector or craft projector.
If you’re lucky enough to have a video projector (the kind you can attach to a laptop computer) then any image you find on the internet can be easily projected onto the wall and traced.

Paint in your shape in a colour of your choice.

Top Tip- Buy tester pots of acrylic paint to paint your silhouette mural. They come in loads of colours to choose from.

Alternatively you can buy a ready to trace pattern and transfer paper like these below from the Magic Mural Factory and Wallstory Murals

Here is a lovely example of how to create a mural created using a video projector from
Apartment Therapy

More silhouette mural ideas

This horse design from Unique Baby Ideas

Look at this cool cowboy mural

Tone on tone nursery – blue on blue for a calm and soothing effect from Nursery Murals and More

And of course there are always Wall Decals if you really don’t want to paint.

This beautiful example above  is from a French website called Harmonie intérieure

These cuties are from Dali Decals

Children’s Room Forest from Small Time Art

Etsy has LOADS of decals in all sorts of subjects including silhouettes. Just search on any subject you like.

My final DIY silhouette mural idea for you

Using your children as the models for a truly unique mural.

You will need
A bright light or projector
A darkened room
A Pencil.
Paint brushes and acrylic paint

How to do it

Aim your light at the wall.
Have your kids strike interesting poses in front of the light creating a good shadow on the wall.
Make sure they can keep still for a little while, before tracing around the shadow on the wall.
Paint in the silhouettes in any colour you wish.

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!

Sweet and sassy children’s wall Art

 Introducing Barkingbirdart.

What a great name!

I love the simplicity and humour of these limited edition children’s prints.
The style is not something a child will grow out of too quickly.

The style is modern but would fit in any style children’s room or baby nursery.
I think they’d look great in a polka dot themed room too.

Limited edition of 50. Each print comes signed and numbered on the back. This is an archival quality print of an original pen and ink illustration. Color was added digitally.

Printed with archival quality pigment inks on 100% rag, acid free, velvet art paper. Image size is 8×10 inches centered on an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper, leaving a nice white border for easy framing. In person, these prints have a beautiful, velvety texture and rich, vibrant colors.

If you like your critters sweet and a little sassy, check out the rest of Barkingbirdart’s wall art selection. Birds. Hedgehogs. Bunnies. Turtles.

If they’re cute, She’s got’em!

Children’s Wall Art from Etsy Stores

Drool, Drool… come look!

“There are all kinds of ways to put a glorious fall leaf to use. You could borrow a paddle and use it to float gently downstream, you could hop on board as it breaks from the branch and ride it back to solid ground, you could wrap yourself up in it to keep warm on a star-filled autumn evening… or you could even hoist it over your head to keep out of the rain!”

You’ve stumbled on FlutterBrush, the work of artist Kris Aro McLeod.

Kris is  a children’s writer and illustrator. She is a teacher and a mom. Her first picture book is out! It’s called HUSH-A-BYE COUNTING. It’s about dreams and love and beauty and just getting to sleep. It has pop-ups, lift the flaps, and lots of fun-filled rhyme! Check it out on Amazon.

She makes her prints with attention to detail. The inks and papers are archival- made to last at least 75 years using an Epson 2400 printer, Epson Ultra chrome K3 inks, and Epson Ultra Premium Matte Paper.
She won’t don’t sign, date, or send a print into the world unless it feels perfect!

To see more of my her work visit her website:
http://krisaromcleod.com/index.html