I have been thinking about the best way to organize my ideas and present them to my readers and decided that a weekly theme will do the trick!
Baby Bird Nursery!
Today begins my very first theme!! A Baby Birdie Nursery! I am VERY excited about this theme because it is something very close to my heart! In February 2010 I found out I was pregnant with my fourth child. We always keep the gender of our children a surprise so I needed a neutral nursery theme. I had fallen in love with birdies that year but, unlike now when I see them all the time, there were absolutely no nursery sets available...even if there were, I probably would have wanted to make my own anyway. It was a little tricky keeping the theme neutral but I decided on a bold primary/secondary color palette. I found this amazing fabric by Heidi Grace at JoAnn Fabrics and that was my jump off point!
I created a quilt, painted a mural, created wall hangings, a mobile, added baby bird details to the dresser, a cover for the crib railing (Anti-Chew!), and a little birdhouse for an accent.
Today, I will be showing you the mural I painted and how I added paper baby bird accents.
This is one on the two tree murals I painted. I have to apologize that the pictures are not fabulous, but I am unable to take new pictures, as we have sadly left this beautiful tree behind when we moved from our home this past January. There was another tree on the opposite wall right next to the window in this room.
As you can see it is a curly tree with baby bird and leaves throughout. I penciled the tree free hand on the wall so that I could change anything I was not happy with before I began paining. I would like to mention that I had never painted anything in my life so I was quite anxious about how it would come out....Be sure to lay out a drop cloth under your trees so you do not ruin the carpet below! I used two coats of Interior wall paint in a gloss finish and several different types of brushes. You can see a little bit of texture in the bark and that was just created by the paint below coming through. You can paint another coat if you prefer a more solid look. I also painted grass all the way around the room to give it a more finished and cohesive look.
I added clouds in the sky for a whimsical touch!
Now that I have shown you how to paint the tree, how about I show you how I added those cute little birdies! I choose a range of papers and cardstock as seen below:
I took a thick piece of chipboard and drew a pattern for the birdie and its wing.
I traced about 30 of each piece on different papers and cut them out. I also cut out 30 simple triangles for the beaks. I used regular white glue to glue the wing and beak onto each bird. I kept the body and wings different colors so the wing would stand out. I then chose a button in another color and attached it with glue dots. Voila, cute little birdies!
I also needed some leaves. I free handed mine so there would be some variation in the leaves. I used about ten different types of green paper to add a bit of interest to the trees.
Next, I had to find a way to attach them to the tree without ruining the wall behind them. This took some thinking but, I decided to use flour and water! It worked like a charm, and should be removable with steam or just water! I mixed about a cup of flour with water until it resembled a thin paste. I brushed it on the back of each bird and leaf than pressed it firmly to the wall, using my fingers to work out any air bubbles. There you have it!
I was so pleased with how this mural came out and it really inspired me to create other items to complete the look. Later this week I will show you how I created a quilt, a mobile, painted a dresser, made wall hangings, a crib bar cover and birdhouse!
Thanks for checking out my Baby Bird Nursery! Subscribe to my blog to get all the info on how to create the other components in this adorable nursery! Leave a comment if you have a question or something to share! Check back tomorrow for the next installment in our Baby Bird Nursery theme!
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