Isobelle has turned seven and feels her fairyland and teddy-bear bedroom needs an update. She has chosen a cloud theme and with some clever craft and a lick of paint, the transformation will be easier than you think.
Additions to the Room- Clouds and sun effect on blue walls and ceilings
- Hot air balloon scene on walls
- White Austrian blinds
- Hot air balloon toy basket
- New fluffy bed for Newman the pup
- Dragon mobile suspended from ceiling
- Blue duvet cover with stars
- Throw cushions in silver stars
- Raw pine desk and chest of drawers with painted effects
Painting: Step By Step
1Paint the walls and ceiling blue. 2 Sketch balloon designs using pencils and Tara's design provided. 3 Put on protective goggles and mask before using white spraypaint. 4 Start clouds at the bottom of the walls and work up across the ceiling. Spray in an oval motion, lightly feathering edges to give a wispy effect. Spraying lightly over the balloon drawings with the cloud effect adds dimension to the artwork. 5 Tara painted a sun on one of the walls coming out of one of the clouds. Use a stencil to get a crisp line then some light spraying to get some wispy cloud effect.
The style of the Austrian blinds is cloudlike with its puffy, billowy look. They can be quite expensive to buy premade; and colours are limited. Tara used 6 metres of curtain lining for $5.47 per metre which lowered the cost — and this thick fabric is adequate for blocking out light. Following instructions available from Spotlight for $1, Tara then used wide velcro and a length of pine with Velcro backing screwed to the window — this procedure minimised the time needed for application.
The duvet cover is blue star fabric with the reverse white satin. Underneath the top layer there is calico with a length of wadding sandwiched between. For a quilted effect sew decorative buttons in a random pattern on the top layer. The star throw cushions can be made using a glittery fabric, cutting star shapes slightly bigger than the required cushion size. Stitch around two cutouts leaving a gap before turning the right way out. Use loose wadding from spotlight and hand-stitch the gap.
The raw pine furniture was finished with a stained varnish, water based for quick drying. The draw fronts are painted navy blue with little white stars and a light spray of white cloud for a night sky look.
Balloon Diagram
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