This weekend we finished the star wall in our Star Wars-themed nursery. We placed vinyl dots on a deep blue accent wall to look like stars, then hung conceptual drawings from The Empire Strikes Back.
My inspiration
I saw this photo on Houzz and loved the abstract idea of dots on the wall for a nursery. They are fun and playful, perfect for a child’s room, and very eye-catching and modern.
I knew I wanted all white dots to go with the Star Wars theme, and more stars at the top of the wall, gradually decreasing down the wall, like a Star Wars transition from space to a planet. Also, having less dots lower down meant that our toddle was less likely to damage them.
Making the stars
I debated whether or not to paint the dots, but cutting circles out of adhesive vinyl was much easier. I used a roll of white vinyl and a circle craft punch from Fiskars. This was my first time trying a Fiskars punch, and I was really happy with it. It cut the vinyl easily and quickly. It did leave a little bit of a ragged edge on some of the circle, which was okay since these are supposed to be stars anyway. Anyone know if that’s normal for a Fiskars punch?
I started peeling and sticking the circles on the wall in random places. Unfortunately, trying to make it random just seemed to make them evenly spaced out, which looked like a polka-dot wall. So I started to think more about making constellations with dots that could be connected to make a shape. That helped it look more like stars.
I put up several, then lived with it for a day to see how I liked it. The next day I added more dots to fill in empty spaces and make it more full at the top.
Hanging the Star Wars art
I really dislike picture frames with wires, but these inexpensive IKEA frame were the perfect size for my husbands Star Wars concept art prints (saved from his childhood). Hanging frames in a straight row when each frame has a slightly different length of wire is difficult, especially since we have plaster walls. We have to use screws with anchors instead of nails to hang our frames.
To make it easier, I made this picture hanging tool from a stir stick and a screw. I saw this on another blog once, and I wish I could give credit, but I don’t remember where I saw it.
You use the tool by hanging the frame on the screw and holding it up to the wall. 
When you know exactly where the frame needs to go, you keep the stick in place and remove the frame. 
Then you tap the screw with a hammer to make a mark on the wall. That’s where your nail (or screw anchor) needs to go. 
It does help to do this with two people, one to hold the frame on the stick, the other to see where the frame needs to go.
With the stars on the wall and the artwork hung, our Star Wars nursery is getting closer to being finished. Just a couple more projects. If you haven’t seen the other posts about our Star Wars nursery, take a look at our Star Wars Lego mobile and Wampa rug and the industrial pipe shelves.