Club Creative Studio likes to reserve the Tuesday post for low-cost creative projects. Today’s Two-Cent Tuesday post is another way to use your stored up creativity in a low-cost manner. Decorating can be costly but, there are ways to avoid that if you use your imagination.
This is a fun project with low-cost factors.
Among the many types of individuals that are penny-pinching these days are the many college bound and college dorm resident students. You don’t have to be among is category to celebrate your creativity in this suggested project but, it is an ideal solution to decorating and personalizing your dormitory walls, or any wall. Turn your doodles into art.
This post will feature the art of my daughter and her project intended to decorate and place her mark and personality upon her walls of her future living space. Last year she had a focus on using post it notes to decorate her plain white walls of her dorm. This year her space will be colorful and personal as well. She is using clear contact paper as her medium. This sticky on one side only plastic is low-cost at less than six dollars for a roll of transparent Contact brand paper. She also used her colorful Sharpie brand permanent markers. It would be helpful to also use a flat long surface to work on.
My daughter used clear Con-Tact Brand in this decorative project.
To begin, gather your Sharpie brand markers, they work best because they are colorful and adhere nicely to the slick surface of the Con-Tact paper. You may wish to use additional paper underneath the ends of the paper so that the markers do not damage your work surface. Sharpie brand markers are permanent markers.
Unroll and begin at one end of the paper and start your decorative doodles. You can letter quotes, draw illustrations, write down positive affirmations and mantras and stick photos or cut outs under a section of the clear paper. Whatever you put on or under your sheet of paper will show up nicely through the transparent and protective adhesive plastic sheet.
A section of my daughter’s wall art project.
Consider your designs to coordinate with the color of your wall.
It took a while to add to the entire roll. So you may want to do this project as a group art project or invest time if you do this as an individual. My daughter intends to use her entire decorated roll as a wall border. She will place it as a wide strip across her focal wall at eye-level to add a splash of color to her over-all decorated wall. If there is additional left over after fitting to the space she wants covered, she was thinking of also placing a strip or sections onto her floor. Con-Tact paper will be easily removed later and can be used on many type of surfaces safely. She has used it on her mirrors to decorate the corners of them, on her desk-top to decorate that work space, on cabinets as cut-outs like decals or stickers would be used and she has also used this method of decorating on her windows. A whole lovely theme could be incorporated with this very low-cost method. Best of all, when removed, you can change out your theme or decorative written focus.
In this section: My daughter incorporated ovals as “fill-in-the-blanks” for others to add their “two-cents” to her wall mural creation.
This self-adhesive is a little tricky to apply alone if you use a whole sheet, so have some help on hand when applying. Make sure that you have an idea of the total length you wish to cover, do some measuring or cutting. apply to a clean, smooth surface. You can use a squeegee or wall paper smoothing tool to aid in getting bubbles out of paper when you flatten it to the wall. Your hands rubbing across the surface will do well enough however, if you take the application process slowly.
It is NOT recommended to apply to wood or any water-based paint unless it is given a coat of varnish or shellac because it will stick and be removed with residue from this type wall. Test the wall if you have concerns. For best results in application, the manufacturer of Con-Tact suggests that the surface be above 55 degrees farenheit or 13 degrees celsius for best results. They also mention that some shrinkage may occur so overlapping can be done. This is also helpful to do if you are concerned about edges being touched or rubbed.
Draw directly on the Con-Tact paper to create your unique designs.
When you peel off the backing, you want to try to do this evenly. For covering a wall which is a very large section, it is best to have help and peel small sections. We will be doing this together in a few weeks so I will be sure to blog about how this turns out at a later date.
For now, I’d also like to share that one technique of application could be to begin at the middle (center) of your wall and press outwards towards the edge. You may also use a ruler or cloth to smooth out the bubbles that may form when applying. We like this material because it can be lifted to reposition easily and get out any wrinkles that are formed. It is fun to see your wall “come to life” with your art. I can hardly wait to see what my daughter’s art looks like up on her wall.
This material is plastic so you should be aware that pulling too hard will stretch and distort your paper and in turn your images. Use care to place your finished project on the wall of other surface you wish to adorn. If you are planning to cut your paper at any point, it is nice to also know that the back of Con-Tact brand paper they have pre-marked straight lines to follow to ensure a straight cut, they have also marked with measurements, so that is such a handy-dandy element to help you adhere and alter your paper art.
Make your banner art as long or as short as you wish.
Be sure to visit the blog again in the near future to see how her project looks in her living space. I’d also love to hear if you try this method of low-cost decorating yourself. Good luck and happy creating. We are CREATIVE EVERY DAY and hope that you experience fun as you attempt this project sometime yourself.
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