Painted frames

I love school supplies. Even more, I love school supply shopping. Since I have a brand new (to me) library to make my own, I've been thinking about how to decorate it for weeks now. One small project I've been working on are these painted frames I finally finished this weekend:

The inspiration:

I'm sure I saw something similar on Pinterest. But really, I was just browsing my local dollar store when I found these 8 1/2 by 11 certificate frames for only $1 each. Unbelievable! I was about to spend some serious $$$ at Michael's (like 10x as much) for frames that I still had to modify, so I was rather delighted to stumble upon these instead.

10 frames for $10. Not bad. Yeah, they're basically just foam stapled together with a metal exterior, but I don't need anything fancy. These are going to go up on my library walls and aren't meant to be a permanent fixture. Just something to spruce up the decor for the start of the year.



Other supplies include:
$0.49 neon acrylic paint along with $0.79 sponge brushes, both from Michael's


Total: $7.75 - %15 educator discount = $6.15

I have loads of paint left over, and of course, I can use the brushes over and over again until they fall apart (a couple more times, perhaps.) So, I'll get more use out of these few dollars here.

Oh, and the posters in my frames are all free printables from technology rocks. seriously. 

When I figure out where to put them in my library, I'll take some photos. :) 

Coming soon...

+ knit baby booties

+ vinyl quotes on my library walls

Hodgepodge pillow

Now that I've bought my first couch, I may just go craft crazy in my house. Today, I thought I'd start small. How about a pillow?

All I have to say is Pinterest is a bad, bad drug. And crafters are seriously addicted. I must have browsed a dozen Pillow boards and was inspired a thousand times over before I finally decided what I'd like to actually make today. 

The inspiration blogs & tutorials:

• Old sweater pillows at Brassy Apple
• Felt flowers at Classy Clutter
• Rosettes at Living with Lindsay
• Ruffled rosettes at The Sweet Life

This pillow cost me $0 to make, which is a price I like very much. Stuff I had around the house:

• an old black sweater (sorry, Grandma)
• old grey jersey sheets
• black felt
• grey felt
• old pillow I didn't mind re-covering

+ my sewing machine and hot glue gun, and that's about it, friends. 

Here's a close-up of some of the flowers:

A neat little trick I came up with on my own - for the rosettes on the far left (under the felt flower) and far right, I used the elastic from my bedsheets. Hey, it was already scrunchy! So, I just cut all around the elastic and made myself four rosettes out of it. Oh so easy! 

I feel accomplished today.