Gibbs & Gurnell window display

A few weeks ago I was asked if I would be interested in designing a concept for a window display for the chemist Gibbs & Gurnell which is situated down Union ST in Ryde. If the owner liked my design/concept I would have the opportunity to complete my design in their window for everyone to see.......

She liked my concept....so over the last few weeks I have been busy making the props for my design.

First I started to brainstorm Spring and what it means to people. The best thing about Spring for me is the colours of the flowers coming into bloom, new life and the sound of birds singing in the morning. I remember watching a documentary (probably involving David Attenborough) which showed the weaver bird. These birds which can be found in South Africa & parts of Asia, are known for their elaborate nests. I found the shape and the fact that they hang from the trees really fascinating. Another interesting fact, if you ever find yourself lost in South Africa (highly unlikely but you never know) and find some weaver bird nests, well they only hang their nests on the west side of the tree to protect them from the wind. So your be able to work out from there which way is North. (Hopefully your know which direction you need to go in.)

Anyway back to my design. I really loved their shape and decided I wanted to incorporate the idea of the weaver bird nest into my design. So I started to think about how I was going to make them and of course went on Pinterest for inspiration. (If you are not yet on Pinterest, get on the case!!)

I found this tutorial on making hanging balls made out of wool and instantly loved it. 

So here is my final window display. 

I made a verity of different sizes but kept them all white so they didn't distract the customer away from the products. My idea was that perfume bottles would sit inside the nests on top of wadding, (the bed of the nest), becoming a substitute for the precious eggs.

I'm really pleased with the final effect, and think the perfume bottles look fantastic inside the nests. The nests were strong enough to hold the weight of the perfume but using fishing wire I still tied the perfume to the ceiling in case the nests give way. 

To add some colour I made some flower garlands out of tissue paper. I didn't want to hang to many, I wanted a good balance of colour so it caught the passers by eye but didn't distract them from the products. which obviously is the main reason for a window display, to promote the products. 

I then went down to their basement and found lots of exciting things to dress the bottom of the window. I love these old crates, they have Gibbs & Gurnell embossed onto the front & back.

If you would like to have ago at making the nests here is how i made them. 

you need:

• Balloons
• Wool
• PVA glue
• Corn flour
• Water
• A sharpie pen

 You start by making up the glue mixture by adding the PVA glue, corn flour and water to make a gloppy paste. I then added a small amount of the wool, covering it completely when slide it through my thumb and forefinger to get rid of most of the glue. I would then start wrapping the wool i had covered onto the balloon, once I had ran out of the wool which was covered I would start again by covering another section of wool then continued to wrap the wool around the balloon. It is important not to cut the wool and wrap it around the balloon in one continuous piece. Obviously this is extremely messy and you can get knots in the wool and then have no choice but to cut the wool, then start adding another piece.

Using a sharpie I drew a circle on the front of the balloon which would be my guide for the hole of the nest. Obviously if you don't want a hole at the front you won't need to worry about doing this. To be honest the process would be much easier without a hole at the front. People have made these so that they just hang from their ceilings or have made them for light shades.

 

 Once I had wrapped enough wool around the balloon I hung them up to dry. It was a lovely sunny day with no wind so I was able to hung them outside on my washing line. They need to be completely dry before you remove the balloon. I left them for 2 days to make sure they were completely dry. Then using the end of a pen I pushed the balloon away from the wool so it was no longer glued. Then I slowly made a slit in the balloon so the air released slowly, try not to pop the balloon.

And that's it, you have your hanging pieces ready to display as you so wish.

Please let me know what you think about my window display. The feedback is really important to me, good and bad. I hope I have inspired you to get created. They would be great to make for young kids this Easter, you could place small Easter eggs inside :) 

Thanks for reading and don't forget to go check out my display when your in Ryde next. Its only up for a few weeks so be quick! 

With Love.......

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