Desperate - need help in matching texture

If anyone has suggestions, I really appreciate it. I had peeling paint in one of my bedrooms, and to prep for repainting peeled the paint off so i could sand and prime. Well, it peeled off the texture as well, so now I have a spot about 3 x 12 inches, in a very visible area, that needs to be retextured. Just to make it fun, the texture is unusual - kind of wierd and drippy looking, so I can't just buy a can of spray-on texture - none of them match at all. It was done in 1984.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to match the texture pictured below? I was going to use joint compound to even up the missing area, then apply texture paint to texture it, but I don't know what technique to use to produce the ripple effect. The top photo is the missing paint; the second photo is a close-up of the texture I'm trying to match. (I will remove the caulk along the door before doing anything else).

I appreciate any suggestions,
Jenn

 

I couldn't get a good read off of the pic but it looks like they used thinned down joint compound and rolled the texture on. You can experiment with j/c consistency and roller technique either on the wall or a scrap piece of cardboard. If it doesn't look right it's an easy task to scrape it off while wet or sand down when dry. A heavy nap roller would work best.

It also might be possible to get the texture close by using thin j/c and slopping it on with a sponge. This might be a better option for a small area