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How to Make Beautiful (and Affordable) Wall Art

{By Emily ~ August 20, 2008} 

This was my posted article for Posh Mama today and I simply couldn’t resist telling you all about it too. This is definitely a MUST SEE project!

Wall-Art

I absolutely love finding affordable and artistic ways to add a hint of glamour to my home. Recently, as I was thinking about what I could do to make my walls more colorful, I saw this fun and affordable little wall art project that I thought looked like the perfect solution.

Wall-Art

Isn’t this gorgeous? I figured that since I was so excited about it, you may like to know how to make this wall art display for your home too.

What you Need to Get Started: (All materials may be obtained at your local craft store)
Styrofoam: 1″ x 12″ x 36″ blocks of Styrofoam
Other Materials:
Scrapbook paper: 12″ x 12″ (or 12″ x 12″ Photos or 12″ x 12″ squares of fabric)
Ribbon, 1″ or 7/8″ matte ribbon (you will probably need about 12 yds)
Ruler
Sharp pencil
Serrated knife
Thick, white craft glue or Elmer’s Cement Glue
Straight pins (optional)
Nine Sawtooth picture hangers or foam adhesive squares
1-2 hours to complete

steps

{Photo Steps by DIY Maven from Curbly}

  1. If you want to include photos in your collage, decide which photos you want to use and then crop them to 12″ x 12″ at 300 dpi. You can also go to a photo lab if you need a little help getting your pictures formatted just right. Coordinating colors, black and white photos or sepia tones seem to work best so that your colors do not clash.
  2. Choose matching colored designer scrapbook papers at your local craft store. (Or visit these links to find cute paper: Luxe Classic Black or Black Berry Paper).
  3. Buy 12″ x 36″ x 1″ blocks of Styrofoam and cut them into 12″ x 12″ blocks with a utility knife, be sure to keep the lines as straight and perfect as possible. You may want to use foam board for this instead, but if you like the depth, Styrofoam would be best.
  4. Set the photos and papers how you want them. Spread white craft glue on the foam square (or Elmer’s cement glue may be better - this is supposed to help keep your paper from rippling), center your 12″ x 12″ paper or photo, and adhere it to the foam. Repeat, covering all foam squares. Once you have glued, press the Styrofoam upside down against a flat surface to obtain good adhesion.
  5. Pin or glue your ribbon around the edges. You’ll want to pull it as tight as possible and once you pin it, you may want to color the pins to match the ribbon.
  6. Finally, after it’s dry, attach it to your wall: You can either use a small saw-tooth picture hook for the back of each Styrofoam block, or if you want to skip the nails altogether you can attach foam adhesive squares to each corner and press them onto the wall. Foam corners don’t adhere very well to Styrofoam, so you may need to glue them to the Styrofoam for extra strength.

My inspiration and tutorial information for this project came from two helpful sources. The top photo is courtesy of Myra from We Make Three and Moon and Back Studios. I loved her personal touch to this wall art collage with her family photos included and I thought that her hands-on tutorial was really thorough. The second photo comes from Dow Crafts, where they also include a basic tutorial and list a variety of additional craft projects that you can make out of Styrofoam.

P.S. If you do this project at home, I would LOVE to see your pictures too.

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Topics: Art and Activities, Creative Crafts and DIY Projects, Home Decor and Organization

Comments

40 Responses to “How to Make Beautiful (and Affordable) Wall Art”

  1. Michelle on August 20th, 2008 1:00 pm

    Those are beautiful. Fun project to do with some girlfriends.

  2. Tuesday on August 20th, 2008 1:33 pm

    Such a great idea!

  3. c.a. Marks on August 20th, 2008 2:10 pm

    Do you have pictures in the step by step process? :-) Or a video?

  4. Melissa Lewis - Off The Wall on August 20th, 2008 2:18 pm

    These are great!!!

  5. myra on August 20th, 2008 3:09 pm

    i’m so glad you enjoyed this project emily! it’s really easy, and fun. it really transformed my living room, and was a great way to showcase some favorite family photos.

  6. kellie tate on August 20th, 2008 4:07 pm

    i love this as well. especially mixing family photos in with graphics. very clever idea!

  7. Dena on August 20th, 2008 4:39 pm

    OMG, I love this!! I have been looking for something fun and trendy to put on my wall and I think this is it! Thank you!

  8. Teresa on August 20th, 2008 6:48 pm

    This is very cool! I had a similar idea for wall art, but I love the step-by-step here and also that it’s super light-weight.

  9. Carrie on August 20th, 2008 7:30 pm

    Love this idea and love your blog! I’ll be back!!

  10. Margo on August 20th, 2008 8:15 pm

    LOVE this. This is going to be my next project for sure. I love it with photos.

  11. stacey moore on August 20th, 2008 8:39 pm

    love this! great idea!

  12. Jenna on August 20th, 2008 9:46 pm

    Those are gorgeous! I might have to play a bit ;)

  13. Asianmommy on August 20th, 2008 9:50 pm

    Great idea! It looks so cool.

  14. Abby on August 20th, 2008 11:54 pm

    I LOVE this idea. Thank you so much. I have this HUGE blank wall that is screaming to have something on it. I think I will try to tackle this and come back to give you a link to my finished product. I think I will include some beautiful scenery picks from when we lived in Alaska. hmmmmm ideas ideas

  15. Tilda on August 21st, 2008 12:26 am

    Hihi - I understand your writing, but you cant understand mine. That’s to bad!
    I like your blog, and will definently stop by again. (I’ll give u a link on my blog, aswell. Under My Daily Views)

    This idea is great, btw!

    Take Care!
    /Tilda, Sweden

  16. Tilda on August 21st, 2008 12:29 am

    Hm, tryed to post a comment before, im not sure u got it. I’ll try again:

    Hihi - I can understand your writing but you cant understand mine.. That’s to bad! (Maybe i’ll have to start posting in English…)

    I like your blog and will definently stop by again! :)

    (That idea is great, btw!)

    Take care!
    /Tilda, Sweden

  17. Bethany on August 21st, 2008 6:54 am

    I just finished painting my bathroom yesterday and I need something to put on the wall. I think I will have to try this! What a cute idea. Thanks for sharing.

  18. Cindi @ Moomettesgram's Musings on August 21st, 2008 7:49 am

    What a neat idea ~ I always enjoyed crafting and really should try to get back into it again. I think you just inspired me~thanks for visiting my blog!

  19. ladyorchid on August 21st, 2008 8:54 am

    I love this idea!!!!! Mixing photos with graphics is so chic!!!! Thanks for sharing.

  20. Briana on August 21st, 2008 9:38 am

    How cute!

  21. Viv on August 21st, 2008 9:52 am

    What a great idea! This looks like something you would pay a lot to have done for you by some fancy designer, when you can do it all yourself! Voted up!

  22. Katy Lin on August 21st, 2008 10:11 am

    i love this! i’ve seen it done with art canvases, but they’re pretty pricey! and i never thought of putting photos in there! very cool!

  23. Mandy Billingsley on August 21st, 2008 10:57 am

    You are one talented lady!

  24. Belinda A. on August 21st, 2008 12:13 pm

    What a fun, yet awfully stylish project! PS: Stop by my blog, I have an award for you . . .

  25. Paige on August 21st, 2008 3:17 pm

    VERY pretty!

    I’m trying to redo my girls’ room, and this could be a cute way to do it.

  26. Lisa on August 22nd, 2008 3:30 am

    This looks fab :) Mabe I should do this one. I saw that you commented on tildas and mine art swap and that you liked my pic. thanks ;)

  27. LeMira on August 22nd, 2008 8:38 am

    This looks perfect for my big blank bedroom wall. I’m so glad you put the instructions because I saw these somewhere, but I gave up on wanting to do them because I didn’t want to take the time to figure out how to make them. Now I don’t have to. Thanks, Emily!

  28. Kimberly on August 22nd, 2008 10:47 am

    I have made something similar using canvas from the craft store, fabric, and Modge Podge and a little creativity. I made silhouettes of my children. You can see them at my blog

    http://www.sauchagirl.blogspot.com

    Great ideas!

  29. PsychMamma on August 22nd, 2008 8:30 pm

    Oooh! I love this! We’ve been in our house for two years now and still have blank walls. This would be a fun and easy project. I think I’ll try it sometime. When potty-training is done. Ugh.

  30. Leigh on August 22nd, 2008 9:18 pm

    This is awesome! We have a wall we can’t hang anything on because there’s nothing behind the (yucky) paneling. But I KNOW it could support the styrofoam!

    Thank you so much for passing this project on!

  31. Lindsay P on August 23rd, 2008 12:04 am

    This is such a great idea, I saw some canvas pictures and wanted to have some, but at 30 bucks a pop…not really in the budget, but now…wooo hooo!! Thank you for the post!

  32. Project Nursery on August 26th, 2008 11:06 pm

    So Cool! I am going to have to post about this at PN and link to you. You okay with that? :)

  33. William Robertson on August 26th, 2008 11:41 pm

    Wow more and more people are doing this. I steal my ideas from professional art sites. Try this one for ideas using these same techniques. They have some great displays here.

  34. Vanessa on September 7th, 2008 3:50 pm

    At the women’s expo there was a photographer that had this framed, I loved it, I meant to snap a picture

  35. Karyn on September 17th, 2008 7:24 am

    I’m gonna try this one. I really need something for my family room wall.

    Thanks

  36. Deborah on September 20th, 2008 2:59 pm

    Hi! I did this with a stapler back in July. Here’s my link:

    http://comfortjoydesigns.blogspot.com/2008/07/bloggy-giveaways-color-burst-pot.html

    Don’t worry. The tutorial and my photos are part of what was my giveaway for Bloggy Giveaways.

    Enjoy!
    Deborah

  37. Alina Anderson on October 4th, 2008 7:19 pm

    This is awesome! I am totally going to steal this idea for decor in my boutique. Thanks!

  38. LoopyJan on October 11th, 2008 4:43 pm

    this is a brilliant idea i done a tutorial on pictures awhile back using things you had around the home, but i didn’t think of using real pictures I’m definitely going to give that a try, thank you

  39. Keri on October 14th, 2008 10:14 am

    WAY too adorable! Being a married college student it’s an affordable way to spice up the home. Mahalo!

  40. Lindsayat a on June 11th, 2009 8:53 pm

    I love this!!! what a great idea. I just moved into an apartment and was looking for fun and creative ideas for some wall art. I am def going to try this. where did you get the scrap paper for the flowers? i couldnt seem to find large paper like that.?

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