I’m learning that quarantine craft projects take 3x as long since my 2.5 year old is home. Like, 24/7. Did you know that? They’re A L W A Y S around. I’m pretty sure he’s watching, waiting for that moment I’m delicately painting along an edge to run into my leg, asking for a snack for the twentieth time since breakfast. I’m trying to focus on how productive I’ll be once childcare is back on.
Along with everything else that made up our “normal” lives, we miss the Disney parks. Whether you’re accustomed to visiting on a weekly or monthly basis, or get your daily Disney-fix from your fav Insta accounts, we all miss it. SOO this week I wanted to bring you a fun craft that you can keep for yourself or gift to someone; Disney fan or not. **Hint hint, Mother’s Day is coming up** The parks may be closed, but we can still bring a pixie dusting of magic into our homes.
Disclaimer: Below, you will see four pots ready for action… Alas, I only painted three. The fourth was the moss wall in Pandora. The end result was ‘meh’. The moss looked awesome, the bright blue and purple algae things looked like Sully got eaten by the moss. No bueno.
// What You’ll Need
Photos for inspiration
Flower Pots - I used 4-inch pots
Craft Paint
Paint Brushes - A variety of sizes
Primer - I used an old can of Kilz
Painters Tape
Pencil
White Chalk Paint Pen
*Your tools will also depend on which walls you choose to be inspired by.
// Prime Your Pots
When you’re planning to paint multiple colors on the same surface, it’s best to prime your pots to give them a white base. This way your colors will << POP >> and hold truer to the color you see in the bottle. I had to do two coats of primer to fully cover the brown/red of the terracotta.
TIP // Be sure to do evenly pressured brush strokes and go the same direction with each brush swipe. Globs of primer will make for a bumpy surface when painting later.
// Pot One: The Bubblegum Wall
Paints
Medium & Large Brushes
Painters Tape
Pencil
Let's start with the easiest design first. Using the painters tape and a pencil, map out the basic diagonal shape of the “arrows”. If you’re using 1” painters tape, simply trace along both sides to make your arrow 1” thick. Then, hand-draw the rounded point of the arrow, connecting your two angles. Repeat these steps for the second arrow.
Next, mix your paints to closely match your inspiration photo. I have a fairly steady hand so painting the edges wasn’t too terribly challenging, but you may prefer to keep the painters tape on as a guide. Depending on the paint you’re using, you may need a second or third coat. Let dry and TA-DA… Your very own Bubblegum wall!!
Side note // The paints I purchased dried very quickly, which was a blessing with this project as I was able to knock out all 2-3 coats in one sitting.
// Pot Two: The Toothpaste Wall
Paints
Small & Medium Brushes
Pencil
This design begs to be free-handed. **Ack** I know I just lost some of you with that one. But really! There’s no way to possibly use the painters tape with this one. You could… but it would take forever and you really just don’t need to. The beauty of this is that the walls are merely inspiration. This moment right here. THIS. This is your Bob Ross moment, you draw your happy blue squiggle however you want!
Tips for this design // B I G wavy lines + varying widths + the top & bottom colors should “fall-off” on the pot. (Refer to the dark blue color on the top left and bottom right of the pot in the photo below — see how they only make a short appearance??)
// Pot Three: The *NEW* Purple Wall
Paints
Small, Medium & Large Brushes
Pencil
White Chalk Paint Pen
Painters Tape
Immediate regret, haha! Seriously, this one took passion and determination to finish. Although it took a lot longer than the other two, I love the outcome! I really wanted this design to be as close to the original as possible, so that’s how I started. About 2.5” in, I started to improvise and make up my own design. Moral of the story, you do you!
Using your inspiration photo and a strip of painters tape as your guide, create a pattern similar to the original wall. Decide how many shades of purple you want to use and assign each color a number. Then, lightly give each shape, created by your lines, a number. (Like a color by number coloring book.) If you plan to go from start to finish, you can mix all of your colors ahead of time. This one took me way longer than anticipated, so I would suggest mixing each color as you go.
With the small and medium brushes, fill in each area assigned to the color you are on. Make sure you can still barely see the lines you made, you’ll be going back over those with the paint pen later. Once you have all of your colors filled in, paint the solid area of the purple wall using the larger brush. Allow everything to dry. Take your white chalk paint marker and trace over your original lines, outlining each shape. Add the dots where you see fit.
TIP #1 // Use a large plastic Tupperware to store your mixed paints. It’s dang near impossible to recreate a paint color, unless you measured your mixing amounts — which is just madness! By mixing your paints in the Tupperware, you can put the lid on if you want to stop and your paints will stay fresh.
TIP #2 // Test each color out on the inside lip of the pot or in the shape you plan to paint. Allow it to dry completely so that you can see the true color. I went over an entire grouping of shapes the next morning because they were much darker than the wet paint.
Finishing Touches // If you plan to keep these outside, be sure to spray them with a varnish or some sort of sealant. Choose your favorite plants, fill and viola! Cheerful reminders of the Most Magical Place on Earth.
We want to see // If you created your own Disney Instagram Wall inspired flower pots like the ones above, we’d love to see them! Tag us @tribe54travel or email them to us at hello@tribe54.com.
With whimsy & wonder,
Jackie
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