Friday, November 19, 2010

Art ideas for the frugal

I have been keeping an eye out for art to put into a new red frame I had gotten for Kavi's bedroom. I had looked on Etsy, looked in stores, etc. There are many I love on Etsy, but I can't justify spending $18 on an art print for his room right now. I do want to support the artists, but the art is more for my enjoyment. Kavi won't really care! So I don't want to spend that much on it right now. I chose some art alternatives, very frugal alternatives, for in his room and in my living room.

My alternative ideas:
Printed Tea Towels
Scrapbooking paper
Handmade paper items

I found a cute piece of scrapbooking paper at Michaels that was travel themed. I think it was either .59 or .79 cents. Since Kavi is already a little traveler, I thought it'd be perfect. And the background color of the paper is similar to a color I'd like to paint his room. Since it was a 12"x12" paper, I just trimmed it to fit this 11"x 8" frame. ($1.99 frame from Ikea)
Those who read often may remember a tea towel that I wanted that I got for my birthday from a friend, and I said I wanted to frame it as art. (in my living room) I finally did it!
I got a large frame from Michaels for $7.99(well I also had a 40% off coupon! So it was cheaper than that.) I tucked in the extra fabric, and meant to iron it but still haven't. Then I picked out another piece of scrapbooking paper that matches it to put in a frame I already had(the one on the left).
The next day, I was looking for one more thing to put into the other frame (on the right) that I already had. I remembered how IndieFixx has weekly free printable art by various artists, usually Etsy related. I was so excited as I looked through to find a free print submitted by LeahDuncan, the same artist who made the moose tea towel print design.How perfect to have two pieces next to each other from the same artist! My only problem - no color ink in my printer. But I went ahead and printed it in black and white and then used Kavi's crayons to add some color! The above image is how the piece is supposed to look. When I visit Alabama I can use my mom's printer to print it in color, but for now, this will do. I highly suggest looking through the current available free art prints! They are in pdf format. You might find something you really like. There are others I'd like to print out.

All the scrapbooking papers I got were .99 and under! Here are more cute papers I got. I thought the first would be perfect for cutting into tags.
This would be cute framed in a baby boy's room:
One more thing. If anyone remembers the cute paper banners my mom made for me for my first craft show in October...I hung one up in my crafty area. :) Sorry it's a little blurry. I didn't want to use the flash.

2 comments:

beka said...

Ah! I love frugal art. That's why I'm so thankful for the talent of a brother I have (source of canvases) and the practicing art I get to do... :)
Ow, 18 bucks. Yeah, if it was super special and a larger piece, I MIGHT think about it. But right now I'm saving for that camera, and putting away money here and there to save for travel, etc.
Sigh.
:)
That tea towel looks awesome hung as art!!

Angela said...

Very thrifty and cute!! I love the idea of framed fabric and scrapbook paper :)