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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

A Jungle Safari

I've always wanted to paint a jungle scene on the wall...
But we live in a rented home and the owners requested that we keep all our walls the 
same
plain
cream
color
everywhere.


So I've brainstormed a few ways to keep my walls clean,
yet colorful ;)

With help from the kids...

I present our newest mural!


This is an elephant (see his trunk?)

and a turtle,

and a giraffe.

We have some really great 
Wildlife Fact-File Books that helped us get some proportions correct (sort of ;).
{Found those at a garage sale- score!}

Since my husband is away with the military {again}, I took the opportunity to spend a few nights painting after the kids were in bed.

During the day, the kids did a great job painting the grass and flowers.


And I learned a lot about painting murals


like how to pace myself...
{so I didn't get sick of it before it was finished}

Or how to thin the paint for a certain desired effect.
And now I feel more prepared for the day when I can paint on the walls of our own house.

And finally...
Ta-da!
(Can you find my son's elephant or turtle?)





This was all I had left of my brown crayon after finishing all those spots on the giraffe:



Makes for a great reading corner, I think.

Here's my son's baby gorilla.  It's kind of hard to spot since it isn't any larger than my finger:

And here's the beginnings of our jungle-explorer-kits we plan to use for our next adventure ;)

Overall, I am really happy with the mural, but I am sure I'll get sick of it after a couple months and wanna switch it up again ;)
Do YOU guys have any murals or paintings on your walls????
Wanna share?

Happy exploring,
-CK

This post has been linked up!  Check Jenn out!  She hosts a GREAT link-up party!

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15 comments:

  1. What a great idea, CK! Your jungle mural worked out perfect!

    My grandson was into dinosaurs forever (until age 9), so I painted a two wall T-rex. T-rex lasted until the 'dino-love' went to Star Wars Legos. It took me eight hours to paint a 9' by 15' dino in acrylics on the wall. Really hated to see it go :O(

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  2. I love that you showed the dead crayon. So funny.

    He lived the real dream.

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  3. Oh my goodness, Donna! That sounds SO awesome! Do you have any pictures of the T-Rex!?!?!??!

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  4. Great improvising!!! I love it. Plus, you save on redecorating when the kidlets tire of it.

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  5. What a fun, great, AMAZING idea! Especially for rental walls (bleh). I'd totally start something like this right away if I didn't already know my kids would rip it off the wall as fast as I can put it up. Maybe in a couple of years.... You are so, stinkin' talents CK!! That giraffe is beautiful.

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  6. Hahaha! That was supposed to read, "You are so, stinkin' TALENTED." Same diff, I guess. :P

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  7. I'm completely blown away by your artistic talents. Amazing.

    I've just put up some vinyl decal in the bump nursery and will hopefully be unveiling that soon... once I tidy up in there. x

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  8. I can't decide if the giraffe or monkey is my face. :)

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  9. That is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cool!
    Oh I wish I have your drawing skills! The mural is just amazing!!
    I'll sit next to your daughter please!! And bring me some books too!!! ;)

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  10. Well done! Your mural is inventive, and adds so much color & character to the room.
    I do have a mural! We paid a local artist to paint a desert scene in our stairwell.

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  11. That is so incredibly neat! I would have never thought of doing something like that.

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  12. A desert scene!?!??! Awesome Jean! And Papgena, you can come over any time! ;)

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  13. This is great! When my little brother was born, my mom wallpapered his room with this awesome jungle scene. Believe me when I tell you...IT WAS WILD! :) Your jungle scene is really great!!!

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  14. WOW, great job Carrie. Those animals look amazing!

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  15. What a creative a wonderful solution! I love the way that the different pieces of paper give the mural a pop-art effect, and the fact that you included your son's sweet little turtle and elephant drawings. Your giraffe is phenomenal!! It's always a pleasure to see your projects linked up on "A Little Birdie Told Me..." Tuesday!

    Jenn

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