Growing up I remember being fortunate enough to have my enough my own room while my younger sisters shared a room. I also remember not being able to personalize it.  It had stripped wallpaper left over from the boy who lived there before with a toy soldier light switch cover.  By the time I was in high school I got to pick out new wallpaper and paint the trim.  To this day I still remember how excited I was.

I came to realize that not only is important to make children’s rooms special, but that is also important to do it while they are young enough to really get excited about it.   I like to start by having the child pick a theme as inspiration.  For this project the child picked an Under the Sea motif.

While walking down the streets of Georgetown in Washington, DC, I came across some glass globes which I imagined as water bubbles at CB2.  Online I found some similar acrylic ones that have a loop ready for hanging if you prefer.

They are glass spheres as you see here with a small opening up top. After some trial and error we determined the best way to suspend them was by tying fishing line to the center of a straight pin (the kind with the flat silver top).  If you do it the other way you may loose the pin inside the sphere.  We left about 1 inch of extra line on the end beyond the knot which will help wedge it in place later.  We then slid the pin, point first, into the hole on top of the sphere. This way if the line slips, the flat head of the pin will catch it.  Once the whole pin is in, we then gently pulled back on the fishing line and the pin became perpendicular with the fishing line. This may take a time or two to get the hang of. Then we tied a loop at the other end of the line and slipped it through the hole.

We suspended different size globes at different heights to get the desired effect.

The installation was put in the corner of the room to catch light from both windows in the room for added luminescence.   Here it is visible from the child’s bed and makes a nice focal point over the reading area.

Having the wonderful bubble installation inspired the addition of a sea creature to give it life.  I couldn’t find quite what I was looking for.  I thought an iridescent jellyfish would be a great complimentary piece.

For instructions on how to make a Jellyfish go to post for DIY Jellyfish.

After finishing both the inside and outside of the jellyfish, it was hung in the center of the bubble installation.  The sparkle it imparted to the room was dwarfed by that which was in the child’s eyes upon completion of the project.