Ways to Hang Wall Art

So now that I have all this free wall art, what do I do with it?

My first project idea from pinterest was buying a bunch of cute frames and spray painting them the same color.  This was all well and good until I discovered that the very cheapest thrift store frame was $5, and I wanted an assortment.  So, I visited the Dollar Tree.  Once I had my five ($1!) frames and my can of $3 bright yellow spray paint, I managed to come up with the following.  The only downside I discovered was that the paint tends to wear off if something rubs against one of the frames.

My next project idea, inspired by my last RA's hall decorations, is a clothesline of prints.  This was pretty easy with some jute string, nails, and clothespins.  We put it in our dining room.

The tribute for my last idea should really go to my amazing roommate.  We were trying to do some rolled paper frames I'd seen on some blogs, but we just couldn't get them to work.  So she had the idea of just cutting the cardstock into cool shapes.  When it came to arranging the finished product, we decided to put them around a dull corner to bring it out...and the effect is SO COOL.

Apartment Pics

Sadly, I must confess that I've neglected my blog the last two days.  Since our classes start back tomorrow, we've been celebrating our last days of freedom with movie and game nights hosted in our freshly decorated apartment.  We broke in our kitchen with homemade caramel corn, red velvet puppy chow, chocolate chip cookies, and crock pot queso.  (It was also a fun opportunity to try out our nice, serving dishes!)

I'm a little sad about starting classes tomorrow, but part of me is excited for my last year.  We'll see how I feel after my first Japanese class tomorrow....  (I don't speak a word of Japanese.)

Anyway, I thought it was about time I finally posted pictures of the rest of the apartment, beyond just my bedroom.  Then tomorrow I can get into the ways to hang wall art that I mentioned in my last post.

Living room!  (Yes, our door is a TARDIS.)

Another view of the living room.

View from our front door.

Our dining area!

Our little kitchen!

Kitchen, other side.

Our Doctor Who Appreciation Wall (near the front door).

Note the twinkle lights!!

Free Printable Wall Art

I'm excited to announce that the decorating is almost done!  (This means more pics to come soon.)  Since so many of our wall decorations started out as free printables, and since searching down these printables took some time, I decided to compile my sources into one easy place so others could make use of them too.  The only ones that are actually mine are Fox Robin here and the one I made with Picasa; the rest of them are from other sites.  In the next few days, I plan to post pictures and ideas about how to arrange and display printed wall art.

Fox Robin

1.  I love foxes.  And I felt like they should be represented on my site.  So I drew this little guy (and named him after Disney's Robin Hood).  Feel free to download and use him as wall art too!  (DeviantArt is actually a good source for wall art.  My other DeviantArt drawings can be found here.)

Indiefixx

2.  http://indiefixx.com/Feed_your_soul/downloads.html
So this was my absolute favorite printable art site.  They have lots of art to choose from, the prints are nice and colorful, and the site is easy to work with.  Print theme tends to be modern and quirky.

Vintage Printable

3.  http://vintageprintable.com/wordpress/
This site is really frustrating to navigate, but it's good if you want older, truly vintage prints.  Lots of good botanical prints, some whimsical animals, and old paintings.

Graphics Fairy

4.  http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/p/search.html
This also has vintage prints, but they look more like signs and book covers.  It's a lot easier to navigate than vintage printable, but not all of the art makes good wall prints.

JandAandCo.

5.  http://jandaandco.blogspot.com/2011/11/bathroom-printables-download-working.html
This one has several colorful bathroom-themed printables, as well as the "you are my sunshine" seen above.

Printable Monogram

6.  http://forchicsake.com/printable-monogram/
This is really cool.  It lets you download the monogram template in a color of your choice, then type in your own initials.

Make your own wall art.  Mine features a quote from the musical, Chess ("Anthem").

7.  http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/2012/04/make-your-own-quote-wall/
This is a good tutorial on how to make your own wall art using Picasa.  The print above is one that I made following these instructions!  Right click and save it to print and use it.

Finding Nana

8.  http://findingnana.com/?p=5376
This site has printable chevron patterns.  It doesn't necessarily have to be wall art, but I used it that way.

Everything Etsy

9.  http://www.everythingetsy.com/2012/07/live-a-colorful-life-free-printable-in-5-color-schemes/
Several versions of this same print in different colors.

Fruit of the Spirit - see upper left.

10.  https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-SqC2O4R_FylezAH_guPkaUOUBtu9cnZi2FkSQ8ZpxgoAO8VyWRZxA4JDWZefDP2FuOGdtdvnaliiAk5IfnZ4Q7gxlFxftWf9qV-rKqx_FXVeKjhPLxJcFiT8aTvBPZlQqzsTQOYKtoE/s1600/FruitofSpirit-Rainbow-detail.jpg
Link to the Fruit of the Spirit print.

DIY Hanging Racks

So the other day my mom pulled the following article out of her cabinet and told me she no longer needed it:

Apparently it's a French bread pan.

My mind went through this whole thought process of, French bread?  I love French bread.  Making bread is hard.  I would never make French bread.  Wait, this has nifty holes in the middle....

And so my first hanging rack was born.  Since it came in this sort of dull dark grey color, I spray painted it silver.  Then, I added three decorative doorknobs from World Market ($1.99 a piece - not bad, and they're pretty).  It was nice because the knobs went right through the holes in the middle, so I didn't have to drill any.  We also used these same holes to drill it into the wall.

Finished product.

 My next hanging rack also features World Market knobs, but this time with hooks attached (same price - I'm a big fan).  I started with a board that I salvaged from an old bed my neighbors were throwing away.  After cutting it down to size, I sanded the rough edges.  Then, I used some of the leftover turquoise paint from my desk and splashed it on sort of roughly, so you could still see the bare wood around the sides.

This way my scarf collection can double as a decoration.

A closer view of the knobs

In the end, since I got the board and pan for free and the paint and screws were stuff I already had, the total cost for both of these was really just the cost of the knobs: about $10 for the bigger one and $6 for the smaller.  Not bad, if I do say so myself....

And Thus It Begins

So the day has finally arrived, and I am finally here and moved in!  I've been trying to hold off on the posts until I actually got here, so now I can start updating more regularly.  I have a lot more about individual pieces and projects that I'd like to post later, as well as some pictures of other rooms, but for now I'll just post a few pics of my bedroom.

I've been really pleased with the apartment as a whole so far, and my room has turned out even better than I'd hoped.  We went grocery shopping today and made an AMAZING slow cooker tomato basil parmesan soup (find the recipe here).  We've also made a lot of headway in the kitchen and living room, so I'll be excited to share those pics in the next few days.