Thursday, June 10, 2010

Orbs of Coolness

I'm so proud of my latest interior decorating idea because it's simple, inexpensive and looks neat.  Plus, it was so serendipitous that I'm still stunned it even came to me!




So, I'm wandering around Target looking for a cute 3-ring binder (because I lost my official Jr. League Provisional notebook) and I take a left turn at Albuquerque down the home accessories aisle.  These Umbra butterflies catch my eye, but I'm not into decorating with butterflies, so I pass them by.  That's when it happened.  They called to me...those fancy orbs of coolness that people use to fill bowls for no particular reason.  (Officially known as vase fillers, that's what the label says.)





So, I start thinking.  Why do butterflies get all the glory?  What do they have that vase filler orbs don't?  That's right, nothin'.  That's why the orbs are going on my nekkid wall.  I never quite knew what to do with the wall in the hallway.  I considered making it a traditional portrait wall, but the space is just too tight to properly display pictures.  I'd pretty much given up on it.  No offense, Wall. 





Anyhoo, I scooped up a box of brown grapevine orbs and a box of red funky ones and headed home.  Armed with some tacks and corsage pins (that's right, corsage pins), I hung the larger, textured orbs on the wall, then filled in the spaces with the little grapevine ones. Ideally, I would have used small nails, but I couldn't find any...and it was 1 o'clock in the morning...and the pink corsage pins worked.  So there.





Once I mounted them on the wall, I decided I had 2 too many brown grapevine orbs and needed some more red funky ones.  So I grabbed my glue gun and covered a couple with a small $1 bag of vase filler that I found at Walmart and put them back on the wall.

The grapevine orbs were a cinch to hang, but I had to poke a hole in the other ones to hang them.  Not a big deal, just an extra little step.   It looks best if the orbs are scattered around by randomly grouping some of them and varying the spaces in between.  It gives the wall a more organic feel especially if you use different sizes and textures.





I just love how it turned out.  It's like a cool art installation.  It makes the wall look light and airy while giving it the appearance of movement.  Much better than a bunch of heavy frames.  Very Anthropologie At Home, right?





If you don't want to buy the fancy vase fillers, or can't find the right color, you can buy the little grapevine orbs at a craft store and stain or paint them.  You can also buy Styrofoam orbs and glue your own stuff on them like miniature paper roses or wrap them with twine or yarn.  How cute would those apples (that I found at Walmart) look on a wall in the kitchen!  Pull miniature paper lanterns off a strand of lights, snip silk flowers off their stems, wander around Target and see what you find!  Putting objects in frames is so yesterday.  Skip the frame and hang those suckers right onto the wall!

P.S. The word "orb" is cool, plus it keeps this post from becoming fodder for an inappropriate Schweaty SNL skit.

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3 comments:

  1. If I tried this it would not look cool. Sigh.

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  2. Don't sell yourself short! The fact that it's all random is what makes it look cool!

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  3. Love what you've done with the...orbs...almost had an SNL moment. I referenced that once, and it was crickets. No one knew what I was talking about. Ah, it's nice to see the crazy elsewhere.

    BTW, I have grapevine orbs on my table in olive, sage and chestnut. Also known as green, tan and brown in non-Pier 1 speak.

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