You know how a Target run can go. I went in for shampoo but then found myself in the lampshade and picture frame aisle. How that happened-I do not know, but I liked it. I found a set of four little white frames for less than $3. I grabbed them, knowing I would find a use for them somehow.
After a weekend of painting our foster care bedroom and stripping a funky furniture piece, I wanted a quick fun craft. I came up with this simple wall art with my little frames. Here is how I did it.
First, I took the backs off all my frames.
I browsed my scrapbook collection and found a piece that I wanted to use. One 12″ x 12″ piece was enough paper for all four 4″ x 6″ frames. I used the glass from the frame to cut the paper the right size. Once I had four sheets of paper for my frames, I set them aside and started on the letters.
I used just plain brown wrapping paper and stenciled my letters on to it. The brown paper was to act as my guide to cut my burlap latter, since it’s hard to write on burlap. See below.
I picked up my brown paper and placed a small square of burlap behind it. As I cut my letter out, I made sure to cut the burlap layer as well. This gave me a burlap letter without having sharpie markings on it (as sharpie might be the only thing that would have shown a stencil traced on burlap).
I then pulled some burlap strings out to make the letter look more rustic, just like I did on my greeting cards. I then dabbed a small amount of glue stick on the back of the letters and placed the letter in the middle of my scrapbook paper cut out. The glue stick just needs to be strong enough to hold the paper in place to get it in the frame. Once the wall art is in the frame with the back of the frame back in place, the rest of the burlap will lay flat on the paper as it is pressed together. I didn’t use my brown paper cut out letters, but you could use them to create a more layered look.
After all the letters were in frames, my new wall art was complete! It was such a simple craft. I love that I can easily switch this art out to use the frames for something else, but for now I have some fun, cheap wall art. I want to try this same idea, but with animal silhouettes instead of letters.
Have you created anything lately? A spoonful of imagination can go a long way! Thanks so much for checking in!
If you like to be crafty, most likely these are all items you already have on hand too.
Start wrapping your yarn around the picture frame. I didn’t bother adding any more glue until I reached the corners. I then placed a small amount of glue and laid my string on top. Wait a few seconds to allow your glue to dry, before you start wrapping again. If the glue has not set, most likely it will not hold its place. I did this process a few times to get me around the corner.
Continue to keep wrapping until you get to the next corner. You then add more glue to get you around that corner-just like you did before. Just wrap and wrap. If you look closely at my corners you can see that I layered some yarn on top of other wrapped strands. Do what ever you need to, to cover those corners well. The string is gorgeous and you will create the same look no matter how many layers it takes to wrap it. The point is to cover up all the ugly brown frame.
Once I was done wrapping, I thought the yarn frame looked pretty cool by itself. You could hang it up right then as a fun piece to add to a wall collage. I thought a paper mache letter would look cool hanging inside.
I then set my picture inside and hot glued a few small felt pieces around the back of the frame to hold it into place. The back no longer fit down into the little grove because of all the string. I figured this little system worked, and when I want to switch out the picture, I can just rip off the felt and redo this step.
I love how it came out. I especially love the contrast of my black and white family picture that 
Slowly, I started to pull the different pieces of paper out away from one another. This is a step that forces you to be some what patient. The moving paper is so thick that if I pulled to quickly the paper would rip.
Once the paper pumpkin is fluffed, I glued the two end pieces (on either side) of the paper fan together to make the pumpkin hold shaped. I didn’t want it to separate back into a fan type shape, but I wanted it to hold the circle/pumpkin shape.
Our kids were really excited about seeing the pumpkins coming out, and they wanted to help in this project. I let them help fluff the pumpkin and to find a good stick 
Once I had a good stick for a pumpkin stem, I glued the stick and a small piece of felt (that I cut to look like a leaf) into the center of my pumpkin. My paper pumpkin was than complete!
I started by folding one of my big pieces of scrapbook paper in half and measuring how much needed to be cut off, so it fit perfectly in my envelope. For other cards I used my cardboard cardstock. The main idea here is to use a thick piece of paper to give it a real greeting card feel while also providing a sturdy pallet for all the embellishments.
Once I had the size of my card, it was my blank canvas to decorate. I started on my first card by ripping the edge around one of my graphics to add a fun textured look.
I cut a piece of burlap slightly bigger than my ripped graphic. I pulled a few strands off the ends of the burlap to create a more fringed look, and used a mini round brad to attach both the graphic and the burlap to my folded card.
I love the layer look and the mix of frayed edges with the clean straight lines of the card’s background. I started playing with my paper and came up with a few other designs. This next one, I cut the graphic out with straight lines (rather than the ripped technique) and glued it to the card. I then ripped a decorative piece of paper to border it. and glued it on top. Lastly, I cut out small burlap circles, pulled out a few strands again (to create a fringe), and used a mini round brad to attach the burlap flower to my card.
I made these so quick. I love the textured look with the burlap, but you can keep your design even simpler. The following two I created with just scrap paper and glued them on the card with my graphic.
These cards are all 5″ x 7″, but I then made some easy smaller ones as well. There are so many possibilities and designs when creating cards with just a few supplies.
These were so easy to make. You could of course create your own printout with a special saying, quote, or picture and that opens the door for even more possibilities. You could also do the same techniques but put it in a frame rather than on a card like I did for my sister 
