Fabric Wall Art

Canadian winter has lashed its wrath outside so I am venting my creative fury onto you. With cold weather in the forecast and fire places working hard, our whole attention turns indoors. In my efforts to keep decorating wheels turning through these lousy winter days, I succeeded to uplift the room and my spirits by making these fabric wall art for our home that I have been wanting to share with you :). 

This DIY post is also perfectly befitting our first blog of the year as I represent the refreshed setting of our living room. With delicious doses of color, this newly done fabric gallery wall is adding pizzazz without depleting my new year’s décor mantra (learning new DIY & make the most of the things I already own). 

I was tired of staring at the same old wall. With a fresh frame of mind and some inexpensive frames I happened to transform these traditional blouse pieces and a beautiful kurti (dress) sleeves...yes you read it right...sleeves into art pieces. These pieces were not originally designed to hang up on a wall, but once I saw their potential, I’ll never want to take them down. 

Luckily I had a picture of wearing the same dress that I used here to make these art frames (trust me I felt so awful to cut up something so pretty). I also happened to click few phone pictures to show the process. Here is the collage of making of it.

I personally think, this is a great way to re purpose traditional clothes which are too old or damaged to be worn again, especially, if they have been handed down by older generations and have a personal meaning attached. An old saree, dupatta or any leftover small pieces will give a good kiss of color to your bare walls. Using embroidery hoops is also an interesting idea to show off a traditional piece of fabric. If not fabric, you can use curtains, shower curtains or even beautiful scrap book papers to make these frames...possibilities are endless.

I am fairly in the camp that believes that small punches of color makes a room come alive. With bold injection of juicy hues like these frames and cushion covers from Bristi, the decorative success is achieved more easily than expected in this living room.   

These frames can bring instant color, a custom look in your décor and can be a great update to any room with a pocket friendly budget. 

Go ahead, be inspired and start creating your own fabric wall art. Don't forget to share and tag me on my home decor feeds of Facebook or Instagram if you happen to make few :). Until we meet again, toodles!

P.S. Do take inspiration from another DIY gallery wall that is adorning our foyer. Here is the link. 

DIY Gallery Wall

The eagle-eyed among you may have spotted my DIY project on Instagram feed couple of days ago. It was one of those snowy weekends when I crack open most DIY decorating ideas. However, let me confess, I am really not much of a DIYer but my appetite for crafty projects has skyrocketed ever since this project yielded great results with little to no frustration. 

After going through many "foyer wall" dilemma that I had, this simple, cost effective with high impact idea suited my purpose.  Inspired by the framed 'prabhavalli' that I got it done from a local framing guy on my last year's India visit (see here), I took some creative freedom to do the same with old frames and extra brass accessories. Undertaking this project however did not need any special knowledge or expertise and moreover the result thrilled me. 

Here is the step wise process (luckily I snapped few on my phone) for those who are novice like me to help you understand better.

Few tips:  

• I used the left over frames (from Walmart) that I had in the home but the thrift stores are the best bet to score few frames for this project.

• You may use any kind of unused fabric (I used extra left over silk blouse pieces) However, intense color will elevate the whole look with brass. 

• I ironed the pieces before attaching to frames for an even and smooth look.

• I removed the glass from the frame and used Fevibond (Synthetic Rubber Adhesive) to attach fabric to the cardboard of the frame and the brass accent. 

• You may want to give extra support behind frames to hold up the brass weight.  

• If you don't have brass accents, plain colorful fabric in brocade, ikat, or just about any kind of fabric that speaks to your like or love will equally give you good results.

Now the wall shows my creativity through what I choose to display in my home. The brass bells (another great find of my husband from India) on far left has been with us since two decades but it never looked this attractive. The frames now add the much-needed color and style to this small nook. The pair of two carved elephants is a gift from our cousin from India that he scored from an antique dealer. 

The frames, behaving like a puzzle pieces, are now adorning this nook as if they were meant for it. With a reflective glamour, it now rivets attention to anyone passing by the foyer. And given an opportunity, I wonderfully smug about having it all done by myself :).

Hope this DIY post will bring your hidden creativity to the shore. Feel confident with your style and have courage to experiment. Mix and match - textures, patterns, color, shapes together to create a visual treat. I personally feel this is an excellent alternative to a costly painting or a print.

Until we meet again, enjoy your weekend and stay connected on my Facebook page or Instagram feed for your regular dose of décor, toodles!