Healing through Creativity: DIY wall decal

IMG-20131231-00619.jpgI have been meaning to do this for a while now. I just haven’t gotten around to it. Our house is concrete and its a pain to put anything up.

On Sunday one of my friends’ husband died suddenly. Got dizzy at work, sat down died. Its so sad my heart was breaking. With the lack of internet due to the storm I decided to work on projects that did not need internet rather than focus on not having internet. One such project was the wall decal.

I looked online for inspiration but really could not find the design that I really wanted. I decided to do it freestyle. Here’s what I used:

green fabric for leaves
IMG-20131230-00591 grey fabric for trunk and branches
 1 cup water
 1 tbsp tapioca starch
paper
scissors
sponge

Note you can use any other starch such as corn starch or arrowroot or skip the mess and use spray starch

1.Draw leaves in the shape you would like on paper.leaf drawings
2. Cut leaves out.IMG-20131230-00593
3. Use paper leaves to cut leaves out on fabric. IMG-20131230-00595 IMG-20131230-00597
4. Cut tree trunks and branches.
5. Add starch to water and cook until translucent, stirring often.
6. Wet fabric in starch mixture and place on the wall.

IMG-20131230-00600 IMG-20131230-00601 IMG-20131230-00602 IMG-20131230-00604.jpg
7. Use sponge to wipe off excess starch mixture.
8. Be creative!
9. Allow decal to dry.
10. Enjoy!

IMG-20131231-00619.jpg

When I was done I felt accomplished. Surprisingly, the heaviness that was in my heart was also gone. I didn’t feel less sad. I just felt like I was healing. I may add more leaves to the decal, I haven’t decided yet.  Also you may want to iron the fabric before beginning.  I have an aversion to ironing so I tell myself that wrinkles and folds add character.

What decorating projects have you done recently?

I am thinking of adding more leaves since I have some already cut out.  More leaves? Yea or Nay?

About Monetta

*200hr certified yoga teacher *owns and operates Sayana Yoga in St Lucia. *2015 St Lucia Chamber of Commerce Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award

I would love to know your thoughts