Fun Without Funds

All of the walls in the house are now painted! We do need to paint a lot of trim still, we haven't worked on the bathrooms and we don't have any baseboards but we are getting closer. What I have now come to notice is how much wall space we have and how naked those walls are. This has inspired me to find art. I have purchased a few art photos that I love and have finally gotten them in frames. I also found a nice big canvas at Home Sense I got a great deal on. I am rather picky though and I have been having trouble finding art that A) I like B) I can afford and C) goes with the colours of our house.

This means I need to think a little more creatively so I decided I was going to make a little modern art for a gift for Randall for Christmas. I was hoping to keep it a surprise but it is quite difficult to hide a painting that is 24" by 48" and still wet. Although his night shift gave me a good opportunity to work on it while the kids were both in bed and he was not around I still was unable to keep it a surprise.

The way this has remained cost effective is that I always look for a sale! Right now the stretched canvas is on for 60% off at Michaels so I was able to pick up a really large size for $16. Another way to save is using the paint I already have. I used left over wall paint from out bedroom as a background colour and mixed in a little plane black folk art paint.

I made the purchase yesterday and so far I have added a few colours with an interesting technique that I adapted from kids crafts. I had thought after I added this layer of white it would be complete however, now that I look at it I think it could use just a little splash of purple so I might actually need to go out to the store and pick up a little bottle of craft paint.

I'll be sure to take a picture of it when it's all complete but I just thought I would let people know that with just a touch of creativity it's possible to make home made gifts that are both cost effective and really touching and personal. A lack of funds doesn't have to mean a lack of fun! In fact it can be quite the opposite.



Okay, here it is. It's finished now and dried. My camera does not seem to be taking very crisp pictures lately but that is the painting resting on the top of the couch. I believe we will be hanging it in the dinning room.

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