Home About Press Crafts Recipes

Monday, June 15, 2009

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.

10 comments:

The Queen of Clearance said...

Good Idea. The funniest thing ever was when I sent my mom a card for mother's day and she thought it was so cute she framed it and it has been on her wall for over 5 years now!

Danna said...

I loved that Masquerade book as well. I have it stashed with all of my other childhood books. I never could figure out the riddle...I'm sure it was way over my head.

I also love to frame beautiful greeting cards. My daughter has two fairy cards framed in her room. They're even cheaper than a book!

zakkalife said...

Danna,

If you click on the wikipedia link, it tells you how to solve the riddle.

Ayie said...

very clever idea, love it! no wasting of books and great illustrations!

cindy said...

i actually just used an old alice in wonderland illustration to make a bookmark last night. with a little cardstock backing, it is perfect!

Danna said...

Thanks for the Wiki link. I had no idea the book was so involved! I just remember looking forever at the beautiful pictures.

Christine said...

I really like this idea! And I am going to have to hunt for that book - it sounds lovely.

babalisme said...

sure!! Why haven't I thought of this before!!!

Juggernaut said...

I loved that book. When I was a child, I would check it out over and over again from the library.

Unknown said...

You may also look Ballard Designs to find more wall art items. I bought a lot of things from them and I never disappointed.

Zakka Life has moved to a new site!

Click here to visit the new site.