5 DIY Art Frames Under $10

Hi guys! In these gloomy months of snow and cold {which appear to be never ending} I'm always looking for ways to brighten up a space. As usual, I'm also looking for ways to save some dough, and I think you guys will be surprised just how inexpensive this project is. I made 5 piece of "art" for under $10, {wow}. Pretty awesome.

To create your own artwork on a budget, just follow these three simple steps!

Step 1: Get your frames - I purchased all five frames at Ikea - the cheapest place to buy frames, in my experience {if you've found a cheaper place, do share!!}. I picked up one 8.5x11, one 5x7, and two 2 packs of 4x6.
Step 2: Get some inspiration - My inspiration came from wrapping paper, magazines, and old scrapes of paper. Where do you find color and flare inspiration?
Step 3: Frame it - Experiment with your creative side and see what you come up with. Then frame it all together and put your work on display! 

I had 5 frames and some crazy inspiration, here's what I did with it all...

The Big Boy (8.5x11)
As some of you know, Brit and I are lucky enough to be getting married in just a few months {yay!!!}, I will contain the extent of my excitement because text within a blog really doesn't allow me to express my enthusiasm fully. Anyway, we've been getting lots of lovely wedding gifts flowing in recently, some of which have been packaged so beautifully I haven't even wanted to open them! What does this have to do with picture frames and art? Well, when I said I was being a little cheap with this one, I really meant it. Because the wrapping has been so beautiful and I have honestly felt bad ripping into it and and just tossing it, I decided to make some art out of the wrapping paper. Some of you may think this is a little too cheap, but look at it!

You can still see the creases from the gift box, but it all flattens out in the frame

Pineapples are a universal sign of hospitality and welcome, so I have always wanted to put something with a pineapple up near our entryway. Thank you Williams-Sonoma for gift wrapping with pineapple and giving me the "art" I've been looking for. I added a little monogramming to the mix because I'm stupidly in love with our {future} initials. Symmetry just really makes me happy.

Brit has told me I'm not allowed to put the new art up until they are actually our initials, which means I have to wait until MAY! Ugh... Until then, it shall rest in our bedroom. I still get to see it everyday, but it's not "on display" for everyone. Such a silly man.

Remember those Smurf blue walls I talked about in my New Year's post? Yea, still there... New Year's resolutions don't have to start right away, right? 

The Middle Man (5x7)
Keeping with the monogramming theme... I know, I'm terrible, I just can't help it. My sister gave me little wooden initials on my bridal shower card, with the message "I know you'll do something creative with these". No pressure, right?  Of course I wasn't going to wait until May to use them, though. Using some Washi tape, I created a colorful background.

Please excuse the man hands 

Then I glued the letters to the frame.

And voila! Simple DIY art #2.

Accented by a bit of coral from our recent vacation, I thought it would make me feel like I'm still at the beach. It doesn't. 

Three Little Guys (4x6)

#1: I used some Washi tape for this one, again. If you do not have any Washi tape and see no purpose for it, by all means, don't go buy it. It is a fun craft tool, that is it. Fun craft tools make me happy, and by not spending $$$ on frames I'm able to afford such fun craft supplies {at least that's what I tell myself}. Brit actually got me a little "starter" Washi kit for Christmas, so using many of those patterns, I created the next frame. I just cut little pieces of tape and wrapped them around the white frame.

I pretended I was going to go in a nice organized fashion when I started, but about half way through I just started taping down pieces. 

I'm pretty over the moon about how this one turned out. I plopped one of my favorite engagement photos in it and let the colors and patterns do the talking.

#2: You may recognize this little guy from my previous post {link}. But, did you recognize that the "art" is actually just a clipping from a catalog? Maybe you did, maybe you didn't, but now you know. I found this image of a pattern in a Lilly Pulitzer catalog several months ago.

Reverse side

I kept it as a little piece of inspiration because I just loved the colors! I stumbled across it again a couple weeks ago and knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. 

I framed it and put it on display in our bathroom. I love the bright colors in there and the coral pattern. 

#3:  Last but not least...

I kinda sorta love this guy the most {don't tell the others}. I used a Silhouette to cut out these shapes {my BIG Christmas gift from Brit. I think he gets me these crafty things because he knows it will keep me busy and he'll get a little alone time. No matter. He's awesome}. If you don't have a Silhouette, don't fret! You can still make this adorableness without one. If you're super skilled with scissors, you could cut the letters yourself, or you can get pre-cut letters or stickers at most craft stores for pretty cheap.  The tub and bubbles consist of four different pieces. See below.

I had some left over navy paper from our DIY wedding programs {yea, I DIY everywhere I can}. The white paper is just printer paper scrapes, and the sparkle paper was left over from some Christmas thank you cards I made {how much do you love that sparkle paper?!}. I picked it up at Paper Source, one of my other happy places.

I glued the letters on to the tub - I really wanted to rush through this but I knew if I took my time I'd like the results much more, so this part probably took me 10 minutes.

I glued the other pieces together and framed it. 

Starting with the tub, add the oval piece next, then the bubbles, and last the thin oval piece. 

I just love this and the little bit of flare it brings to the bathroom {let's be honest, a bathroom needs a bit of sparkle every now and then}.

The throne of the abode 

Overall Cost: $9 for the frames. I purchased 6 frames in total {using the extra one for the beach picture next to our pineapple monogram}. I used extra supplies and scraps to create the pictures. However, if purchasing everything for the first time, the paper cost me $1.00, and the Washi tape can be found here, but also check out Amazon or local stores, it's probably much cheaper there.  

Overall Time: Approximately 45 minutes - 5 minutes for the pineapple monogram, 10 minutes for the Washi monogram, 13 minutes for the Washi frame, 2 minutes for the Lilly image, 15 minutes for the tub.

I love these cheap DIY projects that can add so much to a room or home. Have you ever made your own art for your home? What types of things inspire you?

Thanks for visiting!