Cheap Wall Art

When books begin to fall apart, get ripped, scribbled on by little hands, don't discard them quite yet. Instead, think of them as craft supplies or in this case art. I salvaged this "fish illustration" from a book where the binding had begun to come apart. Now the set of pictures hang in my dining room.

Illustrations from a child's book would make a wonderful art piece for a nursery. Just think of all the possibilities. One example of a beautifully illustrated book is Masquerade by Kit Williams.

Painting by Kit Williams in Masquerade

On a side note, if you've never heard of this book before, there's a lot more to it than just a story. There's a built in riddle that once lead to treasure. This book was one of my favorites as a child. If you want to read more about it, there's a good history of the book on wikipedia.

Where to get free books
Often libraries will get rid of old worn out books so ask your librarian.

Garage Sales - I find at the end of most garage sales they begin to give most of the stuff away. One item I always find are books.

Where to find cheap frames
Thrift stores often price paintings by the quality of the image and don't even consider the frame. Often you can get a good frame for $1 and up.