Decorating on the cheap

A few years ago I saw these adorable clip art boards in my Pottery Barn Kids catalog and thought how easy it would be to make. My apologies for lack of color. They kind of blend into this wall since the wall color is the same as them. This will be changing soon. But back to my cool story....I went to my local hardware store and bought a wooden board for $1.50. I already had the paint so that was free. The clips I found at Fred Meyers and paid $1.50 for three.  I simply nailed the clips to the board and there you have it! Well sorta, I forgot to mention sawtooth's I already had were nailed in the back so I could hang these. But you could easily drill a hole in the back and just use a nail to hang them up.

How cool are these. You can use these for putting your children's art work or maybe even in your office. Possibilities are endless.

Total for this project=$4.50 for two.
Price Pottery Barn Kids wanted=$30 for two.

 Last year I took a trip up to Seattle Washington with my best friend. Once a year I go out with her to get away from the kids and relax.  Anytime we travel we like to bring home a little something to decorate or have as a keepsake. I really wanted some art work but was on a budget and really didn't have the extra money to get anything that cost much. It would of came out of my food budget and I didn't want to do that. I found in the Pikes Place Market a booth with lots of post cards. I ended up picking 3 of them and they were only $1 for all 3. Really didn't know what I was going to do with them but it was something to take home. Well fast forward 6 months later and I ended up getting this frame and matte for free from a relative. The frame was brown and ugly and it has some sort of hillbilly saying in it that was not going up on my walls..not gonna say who it was from.  I simply took spray paint and painted the frame black. The post cards were just black and white so I took some coloring pencils and added small touches of color in random places. A womans jacket, umbrella, and tree's to name a few. I wanted to just add a touch of color. Then I simply taped them in the center and put it back together. So here you go, a keepsake from the Seattle trip I took.

Total cost for this=$1
Art work in Seattle already done for sale=$20-$100

My point to this post is to get your minds thinking. You can decorate your home for cheap and not look cheap. If you cannot afford that oh so cool piece you want, make it yourself.  There is always a way around everything.  You just have to be creative!