DIY wall art

KATHMANDU, Oct 26: If you are those lucky people who still are on their holidays for the festival season, some of you might have started to get bored. After all, being home for too long with nothing to do isn’t really much fun.

So why don’t you take this time to be creative and relive the childhood experiences of working on your art projects. [break]This time around, of course, you will not to have to show it to your teacher but to decorate the walls of your own sweet home. Here are some tips that you can try:

Hanging beads: During one of the many dinner parties this Dashain, I noticed how one friend of mine had her jewelry hanging in a wired frame-like structure (don’t exactly know what it was) against her wall and it looked really pretty. That was where my inspiration came from.

Take out the long colorful beaded necklaces and ear rings from your jewelry box, and if you can get your hand on one or two strings of old beaded curtains, that is even better. Hammer some nails into the walls or you can also use wall mounted cloth hangers. Dangle the jewelry, and just to make it more personal, attach small picture frames with your photos. See how it transforms a boring corner of your room into an oh-so-funky one.

Blackboards, corkboards, whiteboards and art: Get hold of the indispensable classroom furniture – the blackboard, or the

whiteboard or the corkboard, even a strong enough chart paper will do. Hang it in your bedroom or kitchen and then go as artistic as you can.

Pinup your crazy photographs, a cut piece of cute pictures from magazines, make your handprints on them, scribble some words – use your calligraphic talents, stick glow-in-the-dark stickers: the possibilities are many. The idea is to create a personal piece of wall art full of your memorabilia.

Collages: Collages as an art project was my favorite homework to do, and it turns out that the best collages don’t only belong to the classroom walls, it can be a proud

showpiece in your home as well.

Take a strong chart paper or cardboard and start sticking anything you like – colorful paper pieces, clothes, pictures, tiny pebbles, beads, pulses, glitters, and then shape it to your desire. Again, it doesn’t have to win a medal. Just make it good enough so that you can be proud to hang it on your wall.

Fabric art: Some prints and patterns that you find in fabrics look as beautiful as any art work you would buy from a gallery. But you

can’t hang these fabrics on your wall like a painting, can you? Yes, you can.

Take a stretched canvas (available at art supply stores), a frame and your favorite printed material. (Note: The fabric should be some inches longer and wider than the frame) Place the material pattern-side down on your work surface, and center the canvas facedown on top of it. Then staple the cloth to the back of the frame, keeping the fabric taut as you work out from the center to the edges of the frame. And make neat corners when you reach the edges.

For the love of tradition, the recommended fabric is our own dhaka. And as they say, every dhaka print is a unique one; so you have an exclusive piece of art all for yourself.

Now you have the tips and you have all that you need – so go ahead. Start an art project for your home, get your family involved, and don’t forget to have fun doing it.