Cheap and Easy Wall Art

If you're like me then you hate to spend money on stuff to hang on your walls (or anything for that matter). I especially hate to spend a fortune on something to hang on my walls when there's so much out there that can be considered "wall art".  However, if you insist on getting a painting or print already completed I would recommend Garden Ridge.  They have the largest selection of wall art I've ever seen in one store and it's all reasonably priced.  


If you'd like to think outside the box a bit and come up with creative ways to fill your walls then here are a few ideas that I've come up with that have worked well for me.  Of course all of these can be tweaked here and there and/or added to, but it's at least a starting idea!


My first example is something I made this past weekend on a whim because I needed a little something to fill an empty wall in our bedroom.  I have a damask print duvet cover and I wanted something to match but that I could create myself.  I came up with the simple idea and went to Hobby Lobby to get my supplies.  I bought two small canvas' (2 for $6) and used acrylic paint and stencils I already had.  I also purchased the ribbon ($2 for the roll) to hang them for a girly touch and needed a new hot glue gun ($2.99).  So overall the entire project cost me a whopping $11.00!

Here's another view to get the full effect :)

If you don't already have acrylic paints and stencils around the house they're very cheap as well.  Acrylics are about .99 cents per color for the small bottle and a whole sheet of different stencils was $4.99.  I've found Hobby Lobby to be much cheaper than Michael's.  If there are any other cheap craft stores out there please let me know!

My next project is a very simple one that used very little creativity and was simply the result of a dwindling bank account and a bare wall:)  I needed something for the walls in my spare bedroom and was not feeling very crafty that day so I came up with a simple idea to frame scrapbook pages!  The scrapbook pages I used were in fact from Michael's however they were only.... drum roll...  .59 cents each!  That's a bargain if you ask me!  I got lucky and the frames were also 50% off that day so they were only about $4 each.  So in total, the entire set of three pictures cost me $13.77.  It's also a very cute pink damask print.  Are you sensing that I love damask?   The great thing about this project is you literally have thousands of options to choose from.  Go to your local Michael's or Hobby Lobby or even office supply store and see how many different scrapbook sheets they have to choose from!  Buy a few to change out when you get tired of them, at only .59 cents (or less) a sheet you can't go wrong.

Lastly I wanted to share a pretty classic idea that I put my own spin on.  Most people use picture frames to hang around their house and display... well, pictures. Mostly of family and friends.   That's generally a great idea, can't go wrong with pics of loved ones!  However I've noticed at a lot of higher end stores will have framed photography prints of places, scenery etc.  They are also always ridiculously over-priced in my opinion.  I got the bright idea to blow up, edit and frame some of my own photos from vacations and that way I can customize them to whatever scenery I want.  For this room I chose San Francisco because it's one of my favorite places on earth!  I went there on vacation a few years ago with two of my best friends Amber and Kristen (we had a blast by the way) and while I was there I took some awesome pictures of the city view, golden gate bridge, signs, etc.  I picked my top three photos from the trip, blew them up to 8x10 and set them all in sepia tone.  I purchased all three frames, with mats included, from Ross for $7.99 a piece!! That's a DEAL!  So, total cost of blowing up prints and frames was under $30.00!  That's less than one print would be a retail store.  And same with the scrapbook photos you can always rotate out new prints and places!