If you’re looking for an affordable way to decorate your space, creating wall art with greeting cards is easy and attractive. One of the most powerful things about art is how it makes us feel. Displaying cards that we’ve received from loved ones or postcards from a favorite trip are great ways to decorate your space on a budget.
Let’s get started! What you’ll need:
- Picture frame
- Greeting card or postcard
- Ruler or measuring tape
- Pen or pencil
- Picture mat (optional)
- Artboard (optional – any work surface to protect your desk or table)
- Pliers (as needed)
- Hammer (as needed)
- X-Acto knife (as needed)
- Paintbrush and paint (as needed)
Step 1: Choose your card and picture frame
On a recent visit to our local thrift store, we found this card with vibrant colored flowers in a small pot. It reminded us of a bouquet of flowers we recently bought to brighten our home. We loved the paint texture and the small composition, so we headed over to the frame section to see if we could find a frame to go with it. We got lucky! We found this solid ornate gold frame that was just about the right size. In total we paid $0.25 for the card and $4.99 for the frame, so for a total of $5.24 we’re going to make a set that looks at least 5x that price.
Step 2: Adjust to fit
The opening on the frame was just a bit bigger than the painting on the card. We knew that we either had to find a mat or another backing material. Unfortunately, there was a slight discoloration in the top right of the current card backing which meant using the existing card was out of the question. Luckily, we discovered that we had some gold paint. After a quick paint test on the inside of the card, we found that it was a close match to the gold of the frame. We applied two coats of gold paint to the card, around the inset flower painting, for full coverage.
Step 3: Remove the existing piece
To get to the piece, we had to remove the sawtooth hanger with pliers.
Then we used an X-Acto knife to cut between the backing and the frame.
After removing the backing cover, we found that the current art was kept in place with metal tabs. These can easily be bent out of the way with pliers.
Step 4: Position and put back together
With the frame empty we were able to place the greeting card in the opening and adjust its placement. Once we got the positioning just right, we made sure to firmly hold it in place while rotating the frame over.
We placed the original art back in to maintain the correct depth, and then bent the metal tabs back in place.
We did one last check to make sure everything was in place. Happy with the results, we were able to re-adhere the original backing. Once the backing was on, all we had to do was center the sawtooth hanger and hammer it back into place.
Step 5: Enjoy!
And Voilà! We had a new piece of beautiful art to add to our collection in less than 30 minutes of work and less than $10. Hard to beat easy, attractive, and inexpensive!
We hope you’ll be inspired to revisit your collection of cards and postcards and find a piece worth hanging up in your space. If you have ideas or questions you’d like us to feature in the blog, let us know!
