Generally, empty toilet paper rolls end up strewn in pieces all over our living room rug after Bonsai (our dog) gets ahold of them. I managed to salvage one for my first challenge for Project Restyle. I decided to make something I could hang by the window. After few snips and hole punches finished off with a simple string it was ready to hang! I love how it turned out. Now, I’m tempted to make lots of them to hang in a cluster. Could be really lovely and fun. We’ll see if I can snatch them up before the dog gets them!

More information on Project Restyle.

*TIP: Picture frames and mats can be so inexpensive. I think it is pretty ridiculous. I always scour thrift stores and flea markets for interesting or basic frames that I can revamp to fit my taste. You would be amazed at how many cheap picture frames are out there just waiting for a facelift… and your photos of course! 

BEFORE: Picked up this large frame at a the Salvation Army in Hawaii before we moved. Replaced the photo, but never got around to painting it. This photo was at the top of Haleakala on Maui. I love this shot, but it was not quite right for the freshly painted frame. I replaced it with the shot below!
 

AFTER: This is our little Jack Russell Bonsai. I took this shot of him after an evening at the park where he decided to roll around in the mud! This is in the bathtub before Dustin gave him a bath. I just can’t resist that little face! I think this REDO turned out quite nice!
 

BEFORE: Two more thrift store finds. The one on the left was only $1!! I could not resist. I love the character of the frame too. I think the one on the right was between $3 to $5. Check out the after. There’s that chair again! Just a little tease. I will share them soon!
 

AFTER: This is not one of our favorite photos together, but one of the only “professional” ones, if you can call it that. All of them we are cropped off in weird places. Ah well. It’s still a memory!

AFTER: This one was a great REDO. Do you remember all the gold, even on the mat? Well, I salvaged the mat too! Just painted it white, and it looks great! This photo Dustin took while at the Honolulu Zoo. That was a fun day. 
 

BEFORE: Gold Frame, $3.25
 

AFTER: Clean ad crisp with my sister’s artwork! 
 

AFTER: Detail shot of the frame. 
 

AFTER: This is a collage I created from moving stickers a while back. Blogged here. This frame came from IKEA, but I didn’t think the natural wood was quite right for this collage. I’m glad I decided to paint it!

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I would love to see your photo frame revamps! It really is super simple. And, don’t be intimidated by larger pieces that have been professionally framed. It only takes a little bit of work to disassemble these. I’ll be sharing a tutorial on just that hopefully tomorrow! I have a great trick for removing the mat from the photo or artwork without damaging the mat. Stay tuned!

After my hiccups yesterday, I decided to try my hand at something other than printing. This first project has been in my head every since we moved in almost a month ago. All of our packages had these red stickers on them, and I thought … THESE ARE PERFECT FOR A PROJECT! So, the poor movers, had to work around me ripping them off all the boxes as they were coming in our place. 

For a while they were stuck to walls, fans, mirrors, furniture… all over the place! As you can see above. I think the only thing I will change with this project is to paint the frame black. I think it will look nicer and work well to pick up the black in the image. I am going to make one more that has an orange sticker in place of the yellow. (Only had one yellow sticker.) I’d like to have a pair, or three if I have enough stickers. We will see. 

Next a project from the Big Ass Book of Crafts by Mark Montano. I am participating in Crafty Daisies Book Club, we are currently on this book. I plan to do more projects before the deadline, but this is my first! It can be found on page 6, Drag Art. There are SO many projects in the book I want to try. Check out the Crafty Daisies Book Club Flickr Group. And to end the post, here is a pretty picture of my paint blobs today. I think I’m going to have to print this one and frame it. I love the way the light catches the colors. Makes me want to create!