Making Our Own Art
Laziness is the mother of creativity. Or something like that.
This has been done before...it's not my idea. But I revive it from time to time when I just cannot decide upon art for my walls. I don't want to invest in something just to hate it less than a year later. And, at some time, I'd like to use Grace's own art to decorate her room.
This has been particularly tricky in Grace's room as I am just not into Dizney or Ellmo or any other copyrighted commercial theme characters. (I do have a soft spot for Eeyore and Winnie, but those were co-opted by Dizney.) It's not that I think that these characters are bad. I'm just not into designs that have been trademarked and are used to sell other things, like diapers, toys, breakfast cereal, cell phones and bath mats. (Of course, this means that my child is destined to love the Teletubbies beyond all reason, thus forcing me to hide my gag reflex for years.)
So what does every very lazy mom (read: me) do when they need temporary art for a room? Run for the Paper Source and plunk down about, oh, $4-5 for a few sheets of very cute designs. Then, cut up that paper and arrange it in some old frames or some newer cheap frames. Then hang.
Done.
What's next on my list?
(10)
Looking for More?
| Search for more on 'make your own art' on this site. |
| Search for 'make your own art' on on other houseblogs like this one. |
| Search for 'make your own art' on Google. |
| Search for 'make your own art' on Amazon.com. |
Cabinet Refacing:
Face Your Kitchen | Your Guide to Kitchen Cabinet Refacing |
Comments
Well done! In our daughter's room, we copied Puttering Bern's design of a wood strip with mounted bulldog clips (from Office Depot), spaced about 14 inches on center. I then took apart an old wall calendar with beautiful, colorful folk art and hung those from the clips. When she is tired of the pictures, she can hang posters or her own art.
Our kids are 8 and 5 and I can tell you that is *is* possible to keep the commercial characters out of a child's life. You'll never find a lunch box or pair of shoes with a copyrighted character on it around here. But my kids do know who Norm Abram is ;)
Posted by: Sooz | September 18, 2006 4:53 PM
Great idea. My neighbor had a similar thrifty idea. She bought some inexpensive copies of her favorite classic children's stories and framed the illustrations. The result was various-sized artwork, that made an artful grouping, with a child-centric, non-commercial vibe.
Posted by: Carol | September 18, 2006 5:15 PM
Great artwork, Jeanne. I've had similar success with inexpensive materials. Do we get to see the art in context? I don't remember ever seeing nursery photos!
Posted by: Leah | September 18, 2006 5:52 PM
I hear you on the Teletubbies thing.My grandson (2.7) saw them on a car window shade and asked about them.He was fascinated and when he was shopping with his other Nanna he saw a DVD of them which he persuaded her to buy.His mother and I wre horrified and we have had to suffer through that disc mant times!
Posted by: Kathleen | September 19, 2006 5:05 PM
Great idea - love the color scheme in her room. Paper Source has such purdy papers. I am a total paper whore. I covet it and have drawers full for that "perfect project" which I have yet to find time for....
Posted by: mindy | September 21, 2006 2:35 PM
Nicely done & I love the paper designs. You inspired me to finally get something on the walls in Atticus' room. I have a few black and white "art" pictures, but haven't hung anything else. So today I picked up a few cheap frames and cut up an old TinTin calendar for some art. It turned out great & wasn't very expensive. Thanks for the inspiration!
Posted by: Trissa | September 24, 2006 10:29 PM
What a lovely idea! Was it hard to find the square frames?
Posted by: Kara | September 27, 2006 10:48 AM
I can't remember whether they were from Target or Ikea. But they were from one of those two places.
Posted by: jm | September 27, 2006 1:43 PM
I found the frames at Michael's for 6 bucks! Here's how mine turned out:
http://flickr.com/photos/karaparlin/265147036/
Posted by: Kara | October 17, 2006 2:03 PM
Very cute art! Makes me wish I had a nursery to decorate, but my kids are older and full of "makeover" ideas that sound horrific to me.
FYI,
your child will love Teletubbies (and don't forget Barney!) and you will live through it and even come to embrace it when you want to get some project or another done around the house. TV as babysitter is not all bad!
Posted by: felicia | October 18, 2006 6:03 PM