Deco on the Cheap

As I was moving everything from one room to another during the room switch, I realized there were quite a few Ikea picture frames that Mary had bought Chris awhile back, but never got used.  I also knew that I needed to actually put things up on the wall in my new craft room to make it a little more creatively stimulating.  I was still continuing my white theme in the craft room, though, and the frames were all black, so lucky me, more painting!  This time I was gonna take the easy way out and spray paint.  Much quicker and WAY less work.

Here is one of the smaller Ikea frames freshly unwrapped.

All my Riba style frames, courtesy Mary Bence, lined up and ready to spray.

Next step prime and spray away!

While those were drying I had to figure out what I was going to put in them that would be a cohesive look without spending any money.  I know a lot of people find old botanical prints and such, but I wasn't sure how Chris would feel about me digging through the library in his office and pulling apart books, so I opted to dig through my fabric collection.  Luckily, I just brought home a huge stack of fun fabrics from my grandma and her friend Christie that they had bought to make a quilt, but realized partially into that they weren't feeling it.  Two ladies' junk is another woman's treasure.  I picked my favorite five prints from the group and started prepping.

First thing to do was iron to get them all nice and flat.  Couldn't get out the creases perfectly, but I knew they would flatten more once in the frame.

Then I took the glass from the frames and measured each fabric swatch out to the correct size.

Once the frames were all dried and beautiful, the fun really began.  I placed each swatch in it's correct frame then started moving them around on the floor to see what arrangement would look best hanging on the wall.

Next was my least favorite of measuring each space on the wall to hammer in the nails.  It takes forever, but trust me it's worth it not to have to patch holes or be unhappy with spacing.

Then all that was left was to take a step back and admire the first set of wall decorations in my freshly painted craft room.

So cheap and easy and perfect for the space!