A 15-Minute DIY That Doubles as a Mini Modern Art Piece

Our collaborator and friend Brittany Jepsen, founder of The House That Lars Built, creates doable DIYs that you’ll want to show off in your home—like this Josef Albers–inspired felt board she designed specially for Domino Kids. As a passionate color lover, I’ve always been drawn to the work of educator and artist Josef Albers. I took a whole graduate course on Bauhaus, the famous German art school from the 1920s and ’30s where Albers was a teacher, and learning the intricacies of his color theory was so fascinating. There are few artists or designers who do it better!

This DIY is super-simple and lets kids explore different color and shape combinations. It’s tactile and fun for toddlers, too. Another bonus: The felt sticks to itself, so you only need to attach the main piece to a wall, making cleanup a breeze. As a guideline for choosing your colors with little ones, look for a balance of bright and more subdued hues in a few tonal groups that pop well with your bigger background felts. If you want to use a single color for the backdrop, you can skip the sewing part altogether; just cutting out squares is a fun activity for kids. And when not in use, the project doubles as a mini modern art piece.

The Supplies

• ¾-yard felt in two colors
• Colored felt sheets in various colors 
• Rotary cutter and fabric ruler or scissors
• Thread
• Sewing machine
• Velcro
• Hot-glue gun
• Hot-glue sticks

Instructions

Line up your background felts with about an inch overlapping. Pin them together.

Sew the background together with two straight lines. The first seam should be half an inch away from the edge of the overlap, and the second seam should be an eighth of an inch from the edge.

Trim the edges of your newly formed large background rectangle to make sure they’re nice and straight.

Cut pieces of your felt sheets into rectangles and squares of varying sizes. (For reference, our larger ones are 9-by-10 inches; medium are 7-by-7 inches, and small are 4-by-6 inches and 3-by-4 inches.)

With a dot of hot glue, attach Velcro to the back of the felt background. Use a Command strip or other removable adhesive to attach the other side of the Velcro to the wall—and let the creative color pairings begin! 

Parents, take note: On April 27 the Little Lars Shop will be releasing all-new baby toys and kid-approved finds, from colorful pacifier clips to mini wood cameras.

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