"Guys On My Wall"

I've talked about my son's obsession with Star Wars.

First I gave in for Christmas and gave him some "guys."
Then I gave in for the birthday party.

And now I have lost all control and we are decorating his room, Star Wars style.
I blame Kathryn, because her son has been his Star Wars mentor and she talked me into this room.  I told her I didn't know HOW a Star Wars room could be as cute as trains or baseballs, and this will be my only time decorating a little boy room.  She assured me it could be done in a way that I would like and that he wouldn't be growing out of the Star Wars phase soon (since we started at the young age of 4).  She told me (in a very nice sisterly way) that I should really consider what he likes instead of just my favorite bedding.  Then she directed me to this quilt from pottery barn kids.  I jumped on board and quickly ordered the millennium falcon quilt.  However, when it arrived in the mail, without the sheets (I have a boring white sheet policy) he was disappointed and wanted to know where the "guys" were going to be.

I chose "bedford gray" from Martha Stewart paints for the wall.  I painted my living room this color and have been really happy with it.  But when I was painting, Justin kept asking me to paint guys on his wall.  I don't know if a life size darth vader would give him nightmares, but his requests for "guys on my wall" persisted.  So when I found these 10" x 10" canvases on clearance, I thought it was time to fulfill all of this hopes and dreams.



I am not an artist by any means, but I do enjoy a good projector project.

So I gathered my supplies: my kopykake projector (that I usually use for cookies), my stash of acrylic paints, some scrapbook paper with simple, two-toned Star Wars images and my wall color to make sure the colors would look good in the room.


The only colors in the room so far are navy blue (quilt and dresser) and gray (quilt and wall).  So I mixed up some paints so I could add a few more muted colors.


Then I spent hours and hours under my projector light, painting these "guys" that my son chose.  No tracing in pencil first, I just painted right over the projected image.  If the canvas got nudged, it was easy to put it back in place.

I played around with the arrangement and decided on this:


It pained me a little to take down his nautical themed baby room to put these creatures on the wall, but I am actually growing to love them.  When I see how happy it makes my little buddy, I just want to give in more!  I'm even talking in my Yoda voice at his request.  You've never a little guy laugh so hard.


Yes, this is one of the most rewarding projects I have EVER done because he LOVES them so much.  Every time I would finish a new painting, he would celebrate, show everyone that came to the door and give me 50 hugs.  And oh man, the day we actually put "the guys on his wall," he was the happiest boy on the planet.

Thanks for talking me into the Star Wars room Kass!  There's a lot more fun to be had decorating this room, but this is a start!