Craft Time! Frames as Wall Art

I'm feeling crafty lately.  And not the devious, scheming kind of crafty... I mean the kind that makes crafts.  Not long ago I posted a project making storage boxes, and today I've got another little project.  This one is much easier.  All I needed were some frames which I bought really inexpensively at Deseret Industries (a thrift store).  Each frame cost a dollar or less.

Then I sanded them down a little and painted them a new color.  I used various shades of blue and a pop of red.  The acrylic craft paints I got from Hobby Lobby and they were about 60 cents a tube.

Once they were all painted to my liking, I used the sandpaper again to distress the frames a little bit.  I roughed up some corners and accentuated the ridges in the framework.

Then I hung them in a pattern on the wall of my bathroom!  Don't they look great?  Instant wall art!

Craft Time! Decorative Storage Boxes

I meant to post this ages ago but never did.  If I remember correctly, the March Optimism Challenge took over and then I just plain forgot after that.  Anyway, I'm not the craftiest person, but every once in a while I decide to make something.  We have open shelving in our bathroom, and all our extra soaps and shampoos and stuff were just sitting on the shelf looking ugly.  I thought they would look better in a wicker storage basket or something, but Brian had put me on a spending freeze.  So when I saw two identical boxes all discarded and lonely at work, I got an idea.  I could make a box out of a box!

The first thing I did was tape the flaps up (so the box would be taller), and then I just made sure all the corners and edges were sturdy by applying even more duct tape.

In order to give the final box more visual interest (so it didn't just look like a cardboard box), I cut out strips of cardboard (leftovers from all the Ikea furniture boxes) and taped them along the edges.

Then I tore up strips of paper (I used a parchment-colored resume paper, but any paper will do) and with a mixture of glue and water, I applied the paper to the boxes using a paintbrush until they were completely covered.  For those who don't know, this is a technique known as decoupage.

And after the glue dried (which took a while actually), I filled up my boxes and put them on the shelf!  They've been working out great!