DIY Night Sky Mural Tutorial
My son’s bedroom is one of my favorite rooms in my home and that is largely because of the DIY Night Sky Mural I drew.
One of the most common questions I get is: “where did you get the wallpaper in Eli’s bedroom?” People are blown away when I tell them that I drew it by hand. The follow up questions inevitably involve the words “HOW?!” or statements like “I could never do that myself.”
However, I’m here to tell you that YES YOU CAN do this yourself and then walk you through it with this DIY Night Sky Mural Tutorial. Let’s jump in!
Be sure to check out my Web Story with a video demonstration too! AND you can find all of the sources for this room HERE.
Gather Materials
The list of materials for this night sky mural is just like I like my DIY projects: short and simple.
I used Sharpie paint pens–probably 8 or so of them for the entire wall, which is about 14 feet long by 8 feet tall. I ended up going back over some of my dots and lines from when I started the project because they were not completely white and I knew I would have enough paint pens.
I’m sure there are ways to project pictures from you computer onto a wall without a projector, but we needed a new projector for our basement anyway. You can pick them up for as cheap as $30-50. They do not need to do anything other than project an image, and it doesn’t even need to be a really good image if you’re tracing a simple image like this.
Make Your Night Sky Map
I went to The Night Sky website and created the night sky map that I used to project onto the wall.
It’s super simple. Click on CREATE YOURS, fill out the location and date of the night sky you would like to see, and then click to see a preview of the map.
Project Your Night Sky Map Onto the Wall
I was able to hook my laptop up to the projector and adjust the size so that it fit the entire wall, top to bottom, side to side.
When you use the map like I did, you will get an image that includes PREVIEW on it, made with stars.
Pro tip here: do NOT trace the stars that make up the word PREVIEW. I got into the zone and was not paying attention and, well . . . that’s why you’re reading this tutorial. I made the mistakes so you do not have to!
Trace Your Night Sky Map
Take your ruler and paint pens and start tracing the dots and the links that connect them.
I recommend using a clear ruler so you can more easily see the projected image while you trace.
I also recommend starting with the lines first and then filling in the single stars as needed to fill in blank space. It’s far easier to add stars than have to take them away.
That is it! It’s super easy AND makes such a big statement in your little one’s room. One other added benefit: this whole wall cost less than $100 in materials and that INCLUDES the projector. If you were to purchase wallpaper, you’d definitely be spending more than $100 for this one wall and then you’d have to work with repeating patterns and lining the pieces up just right. For all of these reasons, it’s probably easy to see why this is one of my favorite rooms in our home. You can find all of the sources for this room HERE, including the materials to make the mural! In the meantime, check out some of my other DIY projects below!
Absolutely wonderful. I would also use some glow in the dark paint for certain constellations: birth sign, North star, big and little dipper. Such a fun and curiosity provoking room.
Thanks! That would be a great addition as well!