Simple Wall Decor - Using pebbles and plywood

Blog DIY Wall decor home decor

Do you know we are having our first workshop of the 24th of Jan, 2016 ? Did you get a chance to go through the details of the Woodooz carpentry workshop ? If not, please do and help spread the word around by sharing it with your friends and family. Apparently, such workshops are not so common in Chennai and I want to take it to as many people as interested. Kindly share. While you do that, here is a reproduction of an article that was recently published in The Hindu Metroplus Melange. This is a simple DIY project that you can do with just pebbles and a plywood board. The entire article reproduced below :

 

New Year is over and the next festival is round the corner. Most of you are probably all the time busy planning get-togethers and parties with friends and family. While you do that, how about also decorating your house for those memorable times spent together?

 

If you are looking to replace that old wall-hanging in your home with something that has a more personal touch, here’s a quick D-I-Y décor idea that is simple and easy to execute. It is elegant and will perhaps make you feel proud of your creativity, every time you look at it on the wall. 

DIY Wall Décor

 

 

Materials required

• Two wooden planks
• Colours to paint (Depending on the color of the pebbles, use contrasting background)
• Random-shaped pebbles (You can get it at a local aquarium)

Pebbles and a sheet of OST

Procedure

I used one-side teak sheets. They are easily available at plywood stores. I had to match the plank with the colour of the door next to which I was fixing it. However, you can choose to use any dark color, based on your requirement. You can use acrylics, oil paints, enamel paints, or wood stains to color. Work with whatever you are comfortable with. Here's a link to the video on how I stained this sheet of wood.

Stained OST - Check out video link for the process

Once the base is painted, start sticking pebbles onto the wooden surface. Use a good synthetic rubber-based adhesive, which is available in the market.

 

You can glue them into a pattern or into arbitrary shapes. Give it at least three hours of drying time, and voila, your new handmade wall hanging is ready to adorn the wall of your home!

Plan the positions before you apply glue

As an alternative, you can also apply different colours to the pebbles if you are not happy with their natural look. Give them a vibrant look with your creativity. So, the next time you are at the beach, take the extra effort to pick up some pebbles. You never know when and how they can come in handy.

Trying it along with a wall painting by Preethi

 This article was published in The Hindu on the 26th of December, 2015. Please follow this link for my other published articles. And remember, we are having a hobby Woodworking workshop of the 24th of Jan, 2016. Have you enrolled  ? Not interested ? Have you shared it with your friends and family ? Please do. NOW. Please. :) My next post is a video and am so looking forward to it. A kitchen accessory. Can you guess what ? Please do leave your feedback as a comment. Would love to hear from you.

Kids room wall decoration idea that mandates no super artistic expertise

acrylic painting Blog DIY Wall decor How to paint kids room wall How tos Painting Subbu Padmanabhan Wall decor tips wall decoration

[Guest Post by Subbu Padmanabhan]
The delight in seeing one’s own near-perfect handiwork come to life is quite unparalleled by the satisfaction induced by the picture perfect outcome of a qualified expert. This joy provides everyone with unfailing inspiration and so when I experience the same elation, I want to share it. Adding life to walls with cartoon characters may not seem new. But doing it yourself brings in the needed novelty that is a result of your own unique creative skills. I decided to give my son Sharan's room a little transformation with his favorite animation characters and have now been doing it on request from other mothers too. Here's some tips on decorating your kid's room wall  with his / her favorite cartoon characters:

Add life to your kid's room wall with cartoon characters

First and foremost, before you start doing anything with the wall, understand that the result has to interest your kid in the long run. Kids appreciate everything with a fancy value, but tend to move from one interest to the other quickly. Involve your kid in understanding what he / she would like to see on his / her wall for the next few years. You certainly don’t want him / her saying, “Mmmm, I like Chota Bheem better”, after two days of your hard work.

DIY Wall Decoration

Materials you can use

From my experience, acrylic colors seem to be the best fit for adding splash of colors on the wall. I have used it on many walls with ease and have seen it give a striking finish to my works.

Acrylics for the wall

I use cartoon images from the internet for reference and mark the outline on the wall using a pencil. Once the outline is in place, just paint the colors without letting them spill out of the outline. Cartoon characters look good in solid colors and so you don't need to give any gradient effect to your paintings. In short, very basic painting skill is required to indulge in this DIY fun.

Chota Bheem on the bedroom door

You don’t have to use the whole wall area. Choose a portion of the wall space and make it your canvas. Don’t be scared to alter and give it a makeover.  If your kid would love it, give him / her sections that he / she can complete.  That would add to the fun, right ?

The feature wall of the kid's room

It is as simple as that. Take your time. Don’t get bogged down by setting yourself timelines. Get it right and then move to the next step. Enjoy the process. And most importantly, relish the product of your own efforts.  Take pride and show it off to family and friends. I would love to hear your thoughts on designs that you have executed in your own rooms. Maybe, next time I do something like this, I will incorporate your ideas.  Do leave me a comment.

~ Subbu Padmanabhan

About the contributor

Subbu Padmanabhan is a mom to a 4 something year old boy, and works as faculty in a premier play school. She likes to indulge in mini crafts projects, for the school and her home, during her spare time. The wall art that you see in the backdrop of this bedside lamp is her handiwork too. She lives in Bangalore.