Easy Wall Murals

by Lauri Griffin | More from this Blogger

29 May 2008 02:21 PM

About nine years ago, when my twins were still babies and still took an afternoon nap, I decided to paint a mural in our basement playroom. It's a long, skinny room with lots of wall space. A friend of mine called it my bowling alley.

I had Disney clipart software that designed cards and banners. I took one of the pictures of Pooh Bear and his friends and printed it out. Using a projector, I traced the outlines with pencil directly onto the wall. I did this in about twenty minute increments during nap time. The hardest part of the whole project was realigning everything the next day. I'd recommend doing all the tracing at the same time if at all possible.

To paint the wall I used basic acrylic craft paints from the craft store. They come in hundreds of colors and are around a dollar each. I used basic paint brushes for the small details and foam brushes for the larger areas. The craft paints dry fast, which is another plus since we were using the room and walked by that area often. Craft paints are easy to paint over when you are tired of the mural. These paints also didn't have much paint odor which is an extra benefit, particularly around small children.

I'm sure if I'd known more about color mixing and shading that the mural would have looked better. I always wished I'd added trees and maybe a happy sun. But the mural looked okay, and cute enough. It made a cheerful backdrop for our playroom for many years. The paints cost less than fifteen dollars total, so as far as decorating projects go it was very inexpensive. If you don't have a projector you can try to borrow one. I've loaned mine out several times. The overhead projectors that a lot of teachers use work too.

Now that I have big kids and a teenager, it's about time to paint over Pooh and his friends. It's kind of sad, but I'm sure we'll come up with something fun that fits our older children. And now they are old enough to help!

Also See:

Sparkly Princess Room Theme

Kids Rooms: Your Child's Dream Room

Home Decor Tips: Creating a Mural

Learn more about Lauri Griffin

Lauri lives in Colorado with her husband and three sons. Amidst all the laundry and packing of lunches, she tries to keep parenting fun.

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JMcReynolds (95) 29 May 2008 04:01 PM

Oh my. Having seen the mural, it makes me sad to think of all that work getting painted over. But I guess you can preserve it with the digital camera.

homescoolmom (18) 30 May 2008 01:58 AM

You go girl! And cool that you have a projector. I love murals. I'm hanging on to my nursery for as long as possible but it's days are numbered too. They just grow so fast.

Lauri Griffin (2703) 08 Jun 2008 06:59 PM

JMcReynolds, it is sad, but I guess it's time. Homeschoolmom, murals are great fun. Hang onto that nursery. The time does go so fast.