Turn an old coloring book into a DIY Wall Art piece!
Thank you to my friend and fellow blogger, The Tired Girl for introducing me to the world of beautiful juju hats. Inspired from African tribe hats (that are gorgeous and created by skilled artisans), they have been popular recently in home decor. I have been living with babies and toddlers these last few years which means crayon on the wall and family photos makes up our wall decor. I thought it may be time for a change.
I fell in love with the beautiful African juju hats but can’t afford the price, so I decided to make my own. Having no feathers in the house and not wanting to take all 3 kids to the craft store, I thought using newsprint or other paper may have a cool effect like the feathers. We don’t receive a newspaper so I looked around the house and saw an old coloring book that was gathering dust. Perfect!
I loved the way my Juju hat inspired wall art turned out. I LOVE all the visual texture it creates. It is not the same as the skilled African artisans and their gorgeous feathers but it has it’s own look and feel. For zero dollars it looks pretty cool! This is a great way to upcycle an old coloring book that was collecting dust. Newpaper or even vintage book paper would look awesome too! This project is easy enough for kids to make or help. Create a new wall decoration for the playroom, bedroom…or any room! Read below for the tutorial.
Materials:
Coloring Book or Newspaper (paper from a vintage book)
Glue
Cardboard
Circle
DIY Wall Art Tutorial:
Step 1: Gather your materials and spread glue around the outer base of the cardboard circle.
Step 2: Tear strips of paper. Fold strip in half and crinkle. This is the secret to add texture! The more you crinkle the more textural your wall art will be. You can also keep it smooth but the pieces will lay flat.
Step 3: Continue to glue strips of paper around the cardboard base. Once you have finished the first row add more glue on top of the strips and lay your next row.
Step 4. Once you have a couple layers of strips glued down, add a layer of scrunched paper on top. This will help add space between your strips and add more texture too (you can never have too much texture as far as I am concerned). Simply pour glue on top of your strips and lay the scrunched paper on top. Then continue to layer your strips on top of the scrunched paper.
Step 5: Repeat with more strips and adding a layer of scrunched paper in between every couple of rows. Keep working around your base until you have a small space left in the center.
Step 6: To fill the center, cut smaller strips and glue down. Crinkle one section of paper and glue down over the center.
Step 7: For a final touch once everything is glued in place, scrunch the strips with your hands. There is no wrong way to do this simply grab and scrunch.
What do you think? Share in the comments below.
Maybe someday I will have a real feather Juju hat but until then I love how simple yet it still gives a visual textural look to the wall. I made two from one coloring book. I think I will create one more and group them together on the wall.
If you like this project be sure to check out our upcycled book sculptures.
Well it took me six years to finally look at this and of course I love it. I am going to use newspaper and make one. The spot I kind of wanted to put it in is my bathroom which is a terrible choice as it’s humid. Any ideas on what I could spray it with to harden/seal it up? Or I could just put it somewhere else. Or I could make it first and then decide. Thanks for this tutorial. 🙂 Love!