DIY Stamp Art

Hey there!  I am super excited to share my most recent project with you.  This masterpiece resides in my bathroom, and has done wonders for the look and feel of my bathroom.  The best part is that I put together the whole shebang for around $20!

It all started a couple of weeks ago when I looked around our apartment and realized we really didn't have much in the way of art.  Since this is the first apartment I've really decided to decorate, I hadn't collected much in the way of wall decor over the years.  Everything on our walls was geared more towards function rather than beauty.  So I made a vow to myself to start working on getting some art and wall decor for around the apartment.

Unfortunately, I ran into a bit of a snafu while perusing for art.  It is all so freaking expensive!  So I decided my best option was DIY art, something which I've never really attempted before.  I had no idea where to start, so I stalled for a bit.

Then a couple weeks ago Melissa and I were shopping around our local Goodwill, and Melissa found this awesome glass pane with individual frames painted on it.  We thought it would go perfect in the bathroom, a thought it would be perfect for our first attempt at DIY art.

For a while we were considering printing out different black and white pictures of flowers and other naturey stuff to put in the frames, but we never really fell in love with anything.  Then Melissa came up with the genius idea to make our own art using stamps!  That way we could personalize each slot with images we think are beautiful or meaningful, and change out the images as we get tired of them.

We were so excited to get started, so we ran to Michael's the first chance we got to pick out some stamps.  We were thrilled to find a bunch in a sale bin for $1 or less!  We ended up with seven stamps for a total of $12.98.  We splurged a bit on two we really loved that were $4.79 each, but the rest were under a dollar.  We also bought some black ink and white card stock to match with our black and white bathroom.

Once we had all our supplies, we got down to business.  The glass frame came with generic pictures in each picture slot, so we traced each of those onto the card stock so we wouldn't have any corners peaking out behind the painted frames.

Next we had to figure out which stamps went where.  After a few trials and adjustments, we came up with an arrangement we both liked.

Once we were satisfied with the layout, all we had to do was stamp the images onto our pre-cut pieces of card stock.

A couple of the stamps had to be scrapped and redone, usually because we accidentally moved the stamp or didn't use enough ink.  But eventually we ended up with 5 images ready to be put in our frame!  By this point I just couldn't wait to see our finished worked of art.

But we decided it would be best to hold our horses and let the stamps dry overnight just to be sure we didn't smudge them when we put them behind the glass.  So we waited patiently until the next day to put it all together and get it hung up.  And it was so worth the wait.  I am just thrilled with how it turned out!

It has totally transformed the feeling of our tiny apartment bathroom for me.  Especially with our black and white decor, it was just feeling a little sterile and well, black and white.  There was no real decor incorporated, just functional pieces.  This new addition, especially with the frilly painted frames, adds a much needed beauty to this space.

One of my favorite aspects of this project is it's versatility.  This concept can be transferred into any design, color or style.  You can change the colors or the stamps used or the frame you put the pictures in.  The possibilities are simply endless.

And if you make one and later decide you are not as in love with it as you originally thought you were, it is so simple and cheap to just replace the picture!  This project is definitely ideal for people with decorating ADD or like to constantly change their home's appearance.  It can also be adapted for holiday decor or fun art for a children's room.  I might have to make another one of these for another area of the apartment, I am just so in love.

Every time I enter the bathroom now I just get this big goofy grin.  I absolutely love how it dresses up the space and has such fun and meaningful images and sayings.  And that it didn't cost an arm and a leg to get that effect.  Here is the total cost of this little project:

• Goodwill frame $4
• Assorted stamps $12.98
• Black ink pad $4.19
• Total: $21.17

I didn't include the card stock in the project cost since I only used 1 sheet out of like 100, and I'd been meaning to get some to have around the apartment anyways.

So what do you guys think?  Anyone else doing other fun projects with stamps?  Or making their own art instead of shelling out tons for store bought pieces?  I'm planning lots more DIY art for the apartment, so I'd love to see any other ideas you guys have come up with.