Mum Makes Incredible Mermaid Wall For Less Than £17
- Katie Blackbourn created an amazing mermaid wall for just £17
- She bought paint, wallpaper paste and card to make the design
- Her seven-year-old daughter is delighted with her room’s new look
A crafty mum has created an incredible mermaid feature wall for her daughter’s room - and unbelievably, she spent less than £17 on the epic creation using materials from B&M and B&Q.
Katie Blackbourn, 30, a married mum-of-one from Essex who works in NHS credit control, got crafty when she decided to make a mermaid wall for her daughter, Jessie, seven.
“I love my job because I know it benefits our valuable National Health Service but my passion outside of work is art and design,” Katie says. “The idea for the mermaid wall came about when I was trying to look for something that would fit a blue and green colour scheme but that also had a bit of extra character and sparkle.”
Katie, a member of the LatestDeals.co.uk online money-saving community, soon set off to B&M and B&Q to get inspiration for the wall she would soon create.
“I started by going to B&M and having a look at their DIY section,” Katie explains. “I fell in love with the Dulux Feature Wall paint in Proud Peacock. At £14.99 for the tin I didn't even bother with a tester pot and just bought it. With that in mind, I had a look at the wallpapers in store. This was for my daughter’s room so I knew just one wall would be dark and I wanted to add some sparkle too, I just wasn't sure how. I took a few different wallpaper samples, mostly those with a bit of shimmer or silver, with the idea of papering the other walls.
“I then went to B&Q and gathered a few samples from there. When I got home I got all the samples together and I couldn't choose just one I liked. I wanted some of one, some of another... decisions, decisions! I've always loved collage so I started to cut a few shapes and see what worked. That's how I arrived at the mermaid scale. It sort of just clicked and went so well with the paint colour.”
Katie says that painting the wall was no problem, but that when it came to creating the scales, it was a time-consuming process.
“Painting the wall was the easy part!” She laughs. “It took just one even coat and went on like a dream. It was the scales that took the time. I was working during the day so it was a couple of hours each evening. I decided on the size of scale that I thought would be appropriate: too small would take ages and be fiddly, too big and you would lose the overall effect.
“Once I decided on a size I used an old bit of card and made a template. The real work was drawing around the template on the back of the wallpaper and cutting them all out. I couldn't honestly tell you how many I cut, but many more than is on the wall.
“Once the paint was dry I set to work sticking the scales to the wall. I used Solvite wallpaper paste from B&M (the smallest packet they sell at £1.99) and mixed it in a very glam sandcastle bucket I had spare as I don't own anything else! The rest of the process was pretty organic. I worked from the top right corner inwards and just stopped when I felt it was done. You could of course do the whole wall but with furniture and so on covering it, there’s not much point.”
Unsurprisingly, both Katie, who shares her creations at katie_blackbourn on Instagram, and Jessie were delighted with how the wall turned out.
“I am so happy with the overall effect and my daughter loves it,” Katie says. “It was an easy project but just a bit time consuming. The total cost was just paint and wallpaper paste at £16.98.
“My advice to others looking to do the same is to ask around if friends and relatives have any old wallpaper cuttings you can have - any textures, colours and so on, as they will all work. Use blues, greens and golds for a dragon twist! It doesn't have to be mermaid. Maybe even oranges and golds for a koi theme. I also bought a lamp for £5 from B&M and a mirror from £1 from Poundland but of course these are extras.”
If she likes it she likes it, but it doesn't look that great. No-one would know it's a mermaid design... Maybe if the scales were closer or overlapping would help
Am I the only person who thinks this is ugly? Each to their own, but I wouldn’t want this on my wall!!
im not sure I like it but I think it’s a lovely thing to do for a little girls room.im sure she is delighted with it
What an inspiration you are ! Great if your on a tight budget ,well done, your Jessie is a lucky little girl to have such a devoted mum , my 26 year old Jessica would still love this lol, as she wanted to be a mermaid when she grew up still waiting heheheee
