What I Learned This Week: You Can Make Artwork on the Cheap

I've been watching too much HGTV.

That happens every now and then.

I can always tell when my watching gets a little out of hand because that's when I start dreaming up all sorts of "home decorating" projects -- as if I'm some sort of female David Bromstad. All of a sudden I'll walk into a room and the fact that we don't have say, window treatments, will really start to bug me. So, I begin figuring out how I can get the job done with minimal money spent.

The latest victim of my unbridled creativity: our master bathroom. It's pitiful. It has looked pretty much the same way it has looked since we moved in eight years ago. There's no decor theme -- it's pretty much a mish mash of whatever I happened to throw in there. It's bland and pretty boring.

But, over the last week, I have worked diligently to transform it! I'm thrilled with the results, which I promise to share later in the week (I just need to finish a few last minute things before I post the after pictures). Long story made short: I gave myself a budget of $200.

Now, that might seem like a lot, but the bathroom had a shelving project that had been incomplete for eight years, so I knew a fair portion of my budget would go toward finishing that.

Once I got the major things done, I found I had little left over for finishing touches like artwork. So, I figured out how to make some artwork on the cheap. It's not rocket science (I'm no Nester), but here's what I did -- and I bet it's something you could do, too!

I chose an Asian-inspired theme for the master bath. The color palate was going to include a lot of earth tones and neutrals, with some green and turquoise mixed in. So, I was thrilled when I stumbled upon this set of six notecards in the Target $1 section:

I loved the design and started to think about how I could use the notecard as the basis for some artwork. I went to Walmart and bought two 8x10" frames for $3 each.

Next, I opened the card and cut the front from the back. I made sure to keep the dark brown piece close by -- I was going to use that later.

Then, I cut the front of the card into two pieces. I liked the gold bird better, so that was the part I wanted to use.

Then I grabbed some scrapbook paper that featured the colors I was using in the bathroom. Because I was making two pictures, I used two 12x12" sheets of paper, which cost a whopping 33 cents each at Hobby Lobby.

I cut the paper to fit the frame. I then used the dark brown part of the card to frame the gold bird piece:

Then, I just stuck it in the frame. Piece of cake.

I actually made two of these pictures, one for each side of our bathroom counter. They work perfectly.

Oh, and one last thing. If you do decide to do a similar project, be sure and remove the picture stand from the back of the frame. This will make it lay flatter when you hang it on the wall. All you need to do is wiggle a flat-head screwdriver under the hinge that attaches the stand. It pops right off:

So, that's what I learned this week. How to create great looking artwork for a song. These pictures cost me about $3.50 each.

Now, go visit Musings of a Housewife to see what everyone else learned this week!