Creating life-sized trees on your walls with plaster stencils and metal leaves

Kitty Ariza, one of my long time customers, had the most fantastic idea after she purchased our Raised Plaster Aspen Tree Stencil.

She plastered the tree stencil spanning two floors in the beautiful stair well to create real drama.

She first plastered the repeatable trunk stencil and open side branches, and then (now this is the totally COOL part), she glued gold metal leaves to the plastered tree design. Now how awesome is that????

I quizzed her about just where she got those fabulous metal leaves. She said "The craft store". None of my craft stores carried them, but I did find the following sources on line:

http://www.gemsandknots.com/gold-plated-metal-realistic-maple-leaf-nos-floral-decorating-64mm.aspx

http://www.elizabethsembellishments.com/Set-of-Tin-Leaves.html

http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-Bali-Style-Metal-Leaf-Beads-w-Top-Drill-Hole-16MM-/230763027010?pt=Craft_Beads&hash=item35ba8c5a42

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Leaf-Pendant-Drop-Connector-Metal-Base-Bright-Gold-Plated-20pcs-/261028506334?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cc682eade

I'll bet you can find your own wonderful sources for metal leaves. But the above links will get you started.

Now that you are armed with yet another new idea, consider using this technique to create tree paintings on wood covered foam board to be used as wall art~

Once a Designer, Always a Designer

Having now been in my Northern Idaho mountain home for a year, the bright sun and warm temperatures took me outside after a long, snowy, cold winter.

There it was. Staring me in the face. The dreaded yard of weeds. No landscaping has ever graced this property and I decided I needed to do something about it.
First it started as just digging up the weeds. It then turned in to a complete design project.
Could I help it? NO! I'm a "designer" for crying out loud! The urge runs through my veins every day.
That undeniable, relentless urge to take something ugly and make it beautiful.
For the past month, I've dug, pulled, laid plastic, laid curves with upright flagstone and though with a tired body, I've enjoyed my designing.

Designing a landscape is no different than decorating your home. You put yourself in to it. Your personality, your style. But rather than with a paint brush, a stencil, or a furniture arrangement with accessories, you opt for colorful plants, lay outs, architectural interest and texture.

 I got the neatest idea! (Speaking of designing). To create a forest "bench".
What more natural legs for my bench than logs?

It came out completely adorable. And it was easy. Simply dig a hole a bit larger than the log round, fill the bottom with gravel, seat the log in the middle, fill completely with gravel so that the hole can drain. Then level front to back and side to side.
I sealed the tops with boat varnish to prevent rotting.
I then screwed two 12" long pieces of treated lumber to the top of each log and attached 4 foot long treated lumber decking, each separated from the other so that water doesn't collect.
My bench is solid and adorable!
I call it all my "artistic re-arrangement of Mother Nature". Certainly fitting a forest home.
Off to now design some new Raised Plaster Stencils.

Adding Decorative Touches with Plaster Stencils

The cool thing about stenciling is that there is no shortage of awesome stencil designs!

Here, Phyllis Katheder used 3 different Raised Plaster Stencil Designs to add elegant detail to her walls.

You see the detail, but you don't immediately notice that the stencil designs don't match. Because each stencil was plastered in white to match the white wood molding, it all seems to come together in a beautiful way.

Look for many wall stenciling projects and great stencils and plaster molds on the VictoriaLarsen.com website.

New Life-sized Olive Tree Stencil

It started out as just a vision in my head. And then the work began. Drawing it out, scanning each piece in, digitizing it, cleaning it up and then cutting the first tests. 


It was fun creating a large (7 foot) canvas with it....My new Life-sized Olive Tree Stencil.


I began with a mottled gray and lavender background. Heavy on the depth in the lower right corner where the tree would begin, and sponged a few pale clouds along the top.

The stenciling began. First, the trunk stencil was repeated upward.

Then the side branch and trunk top stencils added.

I used the leafy olive branch stencils in gray paint to mimic more distant branches. This not only helps to fill in the tree, but also gives the entire design more depth.

Then, I filled the upper tree with olive branch stencils in gray/green with deep, dark purple olives (mixing a little black paint with purple gives you that rich olive color).

Because each stencil is a single stencil, rather than an overlay, this Olive tree stencil goes quick! But now, deciding just where to put it in my own home is the tough one......on the walls surrounding the master garden tub? Filling the walls of my office?  I was thinking that one of the branches could be used to decorate the wooden planters I keep on my deck. Wouldn't that be adorable?

I've decided to continue with a full mural on this canvas. The focal tree is in place and now I will work on adding a faint, yet full, front garden surrounding it. Tall, spiked flowers and grasses. Besides my Raised Plaster Aspen Tree Stencil, this is now my favorite tree stencil in my collection.

Raised Plaster Stenciling in the Master Bedroom

Have you ever been faced with re-decorating a room and struggling with just what to do? What color do I paint? What pattern do I use? How will I bring it all together?


 Re-decorating becomes much easier if you choose a favorite piece or painting in your room to work around. (Or set out to find a new one!).


For my master bedroom decorating, I decided to take the colors out of my favorite print. It hangs above my bed and I show it off with a decorative curtain rod and sheer swag.

This print has soothing, yet dramatic colors of pale gray/brown and deeper brown. So in my decorating, I decided to work with those colors to coordinate with this lovely focal point.

The resulting ornamental plaster ceiling frame that I wrote about earlier, has these exact colors in it. 


I then needed to incorporate the same colors  in to the other architectural elements in the room.


Years ago, I crafted ceiling to floor wall columns that were once marbled with light, warm brown colors. They no longer coordinated with my new color scheme. 


Notice how they now have been faux finished with the deeper brown within the print and ceiling frame. I kept the existing Raised Plaster Vertical Leaf Frieze Stencil design from our stencil however. It's vertical design works perfectly on these columns.

The room is really coming together! Now just to get that crappy, dark blue carpeting changed out and I'll be a happy artist!


Visit the VictoriaLarsen.com website for more exciting decorating projects, stencils and plaster molds to help you get the job done in a beautiful way!

Decorating the Master Bedroom with Stencils and Plaster

In my last post, I showed you the ornamental plaster frame I did with Raised Plaster Stencils, Faux Finish Techniques and ornamental plaster molds on my master bedroom ceiling.

Continuing the project, I re-did my plaster wall frames with the same treatment I did on the ceiling frame.


Before, there was a simple marbleized finish inside the frames. By the way, I created these frames with my Wall Frame Plaster Mold Set and they have been a wonderful, architectural detail to the room.

I painted them the same inner color of the ceiling frame and then added just a portion of the Raised Plaster Floral Central stencil I had used on the ceiling.

I used the same Ornate Round Medallion plaster mold to create a center medallion for the frames. Now, all 6 frames in the room match the ceiling.


My next order of  business is to paint the frames themselves with the same metallic pewter color I used for the medallion in the center and all the plaster pieces on the ceiling. 


As the bedroom progresses, I find it much more elegant, much more coordinated and much more "put together". 


The greatest thing about this whole transformation is that it has literally cost me under $50.00 in paint and plaster!  (Not including the stencil and mold). This goes to show you that you can create high end decorating in your own home for very little money but the results look like you spent a fortune!


Visit the VictoriaLarsen.com website for more projects like this one and all the stencils and plaster molds you need for the job!

Ornamental plaster in the Master Bedroom

Wow, it's been nearly a year since I moved in to my forest home in the mountains of Idaho. I can't believe it! And I've spent plenty of time working on it. 




The master bedroom is large but because there is so much wall space, it was also very plain. Not any more!

I decided to add ornamental plaster to the ceiling with painted frames, a Raised Plaster Stencil and plaster pieces from our plaster molds.

I first painted a large rectangle in pale brown then created an outer border that I faux finished with simple dark brown paint over the top of the light brown color I used for the center.


I then applied our Raised Plaster Floral Central Stencil in the center, repeated 4 times in to a large medallion.


 I cast all the pieces I needed then painted them pewter.

I applied each piece to the edge of the painted ceiling frames by spreading pre-tinted joint compound over the back of each piece which serves as the adhesive.

Applying the pieces is a cinch! Simply hold in place for 60 seconds, let go and it becomes permanent (though actually removable someday is need be...by why would you want to?)

The master bedroom took on a very elegant, high end look with the addition of the plaster ceiling frame. I love it and now wake up to it each morning with a smile on my face. The cool thing is that it also increases the value of my home (quite literally, since it's known as "custom plaster" to appraisers!).

Now, think about your own home. Would it benefit with the addition of a ceiling frame or medallion? You can simply do something simple around a light fixture then paint it the same color as the ceiling for understated beauty!


In my next post, I'll show you how I brought the whole room together with accessories and further faux finishes.


Visit the VictoriaLarsen.com website for more decorating projects just like this one.