Birds In The Kitchen?

It was just one of those gloomy, frigid December days until I went out to the mailbox and discovered a little 6″ by 8″ box waiting for me.  I had quite recently placed a custom order for something for my house, but this couldn’t be it this soon, could it?  Turns out, it could!

It was the kind of project I knew I’d need plenty of time for, so I had to wait a couple of days, but Saturday was THE DAY.  I went into the kitchen and looked up at the clock, specifically the area to the right of the clock.  It’s a bit dull, wouldn’t you say?

I began installation at once.  This was part of the positioning, which is vital with something like this. What made this project more challenging than the previous ones was that I had to keep climbing a six-foot ladder to get things right.  The piece, itself, is six feet long, too, and there’s only one of me.

Here are what my lovely birds look like up close…

Then, moving back a bit…

And, finally, ta-dah!  Voila!  The finished product!  So, what do you think?  I think it’s pretty cool and fun.

Just think!  I’ll never have to be alone in the kitchen again!  I wish you could see it in person because the whole effect is pretty charming.  I know, I know, I said I was going to slow down on the decals, what with my addiction and all.  But this really is the last one…

…for now.  🙂

 

 

P.S.  The lovely decal was created by Single Stone Studios at Etsy.com.

 

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Off The Wall

Hi.  I’m Star.  And I’m a decal-oholic. There, I’ve said it!  Oh, I could pretend that it was just a little decorating sideline, but the problem has really gone a little too far for that.  It turns out I’m obsessed with wall decals.  When I’m not actually busy installing one, I’m thinking about what the next one will be.  I picture myself receiving the box in the mail, slowing unrolling the design and then using my scraper to smooth it all out.  I think of all the time it will take to try various arrangements on the wall, the technical expertise it will require to apply it smoothly and then the ecstasy I’ll feel when I’ve done the permanent application and stand back to admire my creation.  Oh!  Yes!  Yes!  Yes! But then, of course, it’s over all too fast and I catch my wandering eye surveying the walls of every room for that perfect spot that “needs a little something.”  And so it goes.  Yes, I may have a problem.

A week or so ago in “My Living Room Forest” I showed you the tree decals I installed in the living room.  They make me so happy every time I walk down the hall.  But while I was doing that job, it ignited something within me.  Doing these things is a challenge I really love.  There are plenty of problems, but solving them gives me so much satisfaction.  So anyway, about a half an hour after that was finished,  I was, ah, “resting,” in my tiny downstairs restroom.  As you sit there, you are forced to gaze up at a perfectly blank, ugly wall which, unknown to me before I painted it, had been patched sometime in the past.  I had always kept my eye out for a picture for in there, but had never found the right thing.  Until now.  Before I knew what I was doing, I started exploring decal stores, not only the ones on Etsy this time, but some of the hundreds on the Internet.  There were so many possibilities, but I finally settled on one that just felt right to me.

Here is the ugly bathroom wall BEFORE.

And, ta-dah!  Here it is NOW!

Here it is at a little different angle.  It totally brightens up the whole room.  I even had to go out and get bright white switch and outlet plates to match.  The room was so small that it was hard to get back to get perspective as I was hanging it.  I was so sure that the birdcage was perfectly straight.  But, the next day I was washing my hands and saw it through the mirror and it appeared that the cage might be tilting, just the smallest bit.  It could be because I couldn’t get back far enough to eyeball it or, as I suspect, it could be a result of my double vision.  Or it could be the weight of the bird, (ha, ha!)  But, nonetheless, I think it still looks great.  It definitely improves that room.

When I finished it, I told myself, “Okay Sister, you’ve got to back away from these things now.  Think about something else.”  But that’s just silly because I don’t think I have anywhere else to put one.  I do have other artwork in my house, after all.  Well, okay, there is one really cool thing that would look so neat in my new kitchen, but I’m trying to exercise self-control.  I called my friend, Iris, and told her she needed to look at some of these stores and if she found one she liked, I’d install it for free.  And suddenly I felt like a vampire, with Iris holding up a cross, saying, “Oh no!  I don’t have any place for one of those things  Now you get away!”   Some people are no fun.

So I guess it’s just one day at a time from here on out.  I’m going to try to contain the hungry monster within me.  But darn!  It’s so fun that I’m not making any promises.  After all, I’m only human.

 

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My Living Room Forest

Well, I’ve been at it again!  You all know how much I love doing decorating stuff and, since I’ve been trying to distract myself, I just finished another project.  I don’t know if you remember when I put the abstract flower wall decals on one of my living room walls.  This is the only picture I could find of them, although I must have better ones somewhere else.  At any rate, flowers hadn’t been what I really wanted.  I had wanted trees, but couldn’t find any that would fit between the wall sconces and yet stop short of the air intake vent.

However, in the meantime I had gotten this lovely tree wall sculpture which I put on another wall.  It’s really not crooked, it just looks that way from the angle I from which I took it.

So anyway, I was sitting there the other evening thinking how cool it would be if I had trees on the other wall because then it would be like I was sitting in a forest, with trees on two sides of me.  (And yes, I do live in a fantasy world!) So I went on Etsy.com and combed through many decal stores until I found some trees that would do the trick.  I ordered them and then figured I’d better start removing the old decals.  The sellers always say that they don’t damage walls, so now it was time to put that statement to the test. As you can see, they didn’t leave a mark or mar the wall.  As you can also see, I didn’t have the heart to remove the white bird perched on the light switch.  He’s become a friend.

Very soon my package came and it included two trees, eight birds and nineteen leaves.  The name of the purchase was “Changing Seasons” and the picture showed leaves falling from the trees.  All in all, I was very pleased with everything but the birds.  With the exception of one, all of the other “birds” looked more like splashes of fungus.  Honestly, you could not tell they were birds.  That was a bit disappointing.

On the evening that I got them I put up one tree…  (Ignore that strip of brown paper hanging from the stairs.)

Then two trees.   Already I was liking these WAYYYY better than the flowers that were up before.  At this point I decided to wait until the next morning to deal with the leaves and birds because I knew the positioning would be important.

The next day I used tiny pieces of masking tape to attach the leaves (which still had transfer paper on them) in various positions.  At first I used the store’s example but then realized that less would be more in my case.  I pulled out the birds and tried to stare some meaning into them, but had to face the fact that they were merely blobs.  I saved the one good guy and added him at the very last, almost as an afterthought.  (But he does provide company to my ghost bird.)

I’m pretty pleased with the finished product and anytime I decide I can always remove the leaves or the black bird.  Oh yeah, and just to add a touch of whimsy, I made it look like one of the leaves had blown across the hall!  Very fun, I think!

So, lovely readers, what do you think?  Do you like it?  Should I lose the leaves?  Or do you like it just the way it is?

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A Little Decorating Solution…

The way my living room is configured, what with the location of the windows and fireplace, there is only one place to put my leather recliner.  (I know, I know, it’s very Archie Bunker-ish!  But it’s damned comfortable!) This leaves a very narrow aisle to walk through from the front door back to the dining room and kitchen.  However, on that wall, there are two lovely built-in sconces that just scream to have something between them.  Initially, when I moved in, I placed a little antique console table there, but it made the walkway even more cramped.  So I hunted through the house for something smaller.

I found this straw thingy with wheat stuff in it.  It didn’t take up as much room as the table, but I still wanted something better.  The straw thing seemed kind of “lost” there, and, if I rushed through with my hands full, I often knocked it over.  So I started thinking about what else would work.  I could put a picture there, but there is another picture in the living room, and I wouldn’t want the two to clash.  I also kept my eyes open for some type of wall sculpture, but never saw “the one.”  And then one day I was perusing the Etsy site, which features handmade goods, and found the very thing!  They have many sellers selling vinyl wall art, sometimes referred to as “wall decals.”  They are peel and stick and re-positionable.  And the best thing about them is that if you get sick of one, it’s completely removable with no damage to the wall!  How cool is that?  So, after endless hours of trying to decide between different designs, I finally ordered one from Shanickers.  It arrived a couple of days ago.

One of the first thing the directions say is that it is a two-person job.  But, that kind of warning has never stopped me!  What made it difficult is that I ordered a rather tall design, and it came in three pieces.  You start by rubbing a spatula- type thing on the front of the design on a flat surface. (I have long counter tops, so that was a good place.)   The design is comprised of a flat backing, then the vinyl design itself, and then a clear plastic layer on top of that.  You rub hard with the spatula to make sure the adhesive on the vinyl design is sticking to the clear plastic rather than the backing.  Then, you peel the backing off and you’re left holding a (in my case) BIG piece of plastic with the design sticking to it.  You position that on the wall, where you’ve hopefully made some marks.  I did these in chalk.  You rub it gently with your hands and, when it is just the way you want it, you go over it hard with the spatula.  Then comes the hardest part – peeling the plastic off.  Sometimes parts of the design want to stick to the plastic and it takes the delicacy of a brain surgeon to ease it off.  But, when all is said and done.  TA-DAH!I really, really like it!  And you can order the designs in almost any color.  Since what I ordered only included the three impressionistic flowers, I think she just threw the bird in as a bonus.  (You notice I didn’t say she “flipped me the bird,” I said she “threw the bird in!”  I know what you were thinkin’!) At first I was going to have it perch on one of the flowers, but once I saw the light switch toggle, it was a no-brainer!

So, that represents my latest do-it-yourself project.  There are a million different designs, from birds on clotheslines to trees to sayings.  Just something to keep in mind the next time you’d like to try something different!

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