DIY || The Feathered Frame

September 30, 2013

This DIY has been a few months in the making and finally today I can finally reveal to you all my little feathered baby. So, what do you get when you cross a lamb skin, with a Juju hat, with Morrocan blanket?

Personally I don't love Juju Hats (a juju hat is a feathered hat traditionally worn by Village Chiefs in the Cameroon region of central Africa). I find it interesting that they have been such a hit with interior designers and they have spread like wildfire to decorate walls. Some bloggers have called them dust collectors...I have to say that I agree. Nonetheless, I was inspired by this post which then led me to a Juju Hat DIY. After reading it I just wanted to buy feathers. I wasn't sure what I was going to use them for but I knew I would think of something. Around the same time I was seeing a lot of morrocan wedding blankets and this is when the idea struck me.....I would use one of my Ikea lamb skins I had over my acrylic chair, add some paillets and feathers to make a more beautiful seat throw (this is what I mean by seat throw). Except, when I was all done I felt my little creation was too beautiful to have laying over the back of a chair. I felt like I wanted to display it and hang it on a wall. I felt it as like a work of art. And this is how my little concoction became a frame.

Guess who painted that beautiful melancholic painting? My scientist husband who had never in his life ever used a paintbrush (True story!). I was so impressed with his artistic abilities. Anyway, I love how the color of the feathers and the gold pailletes complimented the sunset. So more than a painting this is a sculpture. And I love the fact that the end result is a collaboration between my husband and I. What do you think?

So here is how I made it- (I am sure there are more professional ways of going about it. If you are a more advanced DIYer then let this just serve as inspiration). There was plenty of trial and error as well.

1 || Supplies- Feathers (they have so many amazing colors maybe you will be inspired to create something different with them), ikea lamb skin, gold pailletes ( I could not find any online, but basically its something like this but in gold, fabric glue, upholstery thread, upholstery needle, staple gun ( I have this one), any cotton fabric for the backing, and nylon thread.

2 || Glue on the paillete trim around the lamb skin. If your lamb skin is very furry you will need to trim down the hair a bit at the edges so you can see the pailletes.

3 || With the upholstery needle and thread I added the feathers at the lamb skin's perimeter. (I think maybe you can try the fabric glue here as well if you don't want to sew the feathers on).

4 || To protect the feathers, I added a simple white cotton fabric in the back ( using upholstery needle and thread).

5 || I used the staple gun to attach the lamb skin to the wooden frame of the canvas.

6 || And then I added some nylon thread in the back so I could use it to hang on the wall. And Voila! You are done!

This little concoction still might be seen as a dust collector, and yes I will agree, but you know the easy way to get all that dust out? Grab a hair dryer and blow dry it under the 'cool air' setting....that will get all that dust off.

What do you think? Do you like it? Too dramatic? or just right? Also, my fab orange chair I purchased from My best Friend Craig's etsy shop (Charmaine just has such an amazing eye!). You recognize the candle holder from target right?

Also, I'm over at The Short and Sweet of it with some fab camo buys here.

And if you love blue and white come over to The Pagoda Pagoda where we are having a little bash and I linked up to one of my favorite blue and white post about Splatter (this one). It's Number 24 if you can't find it.

[all images by me for ML]