U Create

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25 Sep

DIY Ballard Design Inspired Art

Hello all! It’s Sarah here from Thrifty Decor Chick! I am honored to be guest posting on Ucreate today! Kari asked me to share a craft project with you, and I just couldn’t resist sharing one of my all time favorite projects, which is also one of the easiest and cheapest I’ve done.

I have a serious obsession with Ballard Designs decor, but more often than I should probably admit, I find I can recreate their items on my own for a fraction of the price:

I saw this one months ago, and I had the supplies I would need to recreate it for a loooong time. I mean, a LONG time. I kept hesitating because of my new found fear of mod podge. I was sceered.

It bubbles up EVERY time I use it. It drives me batty. I bought a fun new tool to keep it from happening with this project, but in the end, I decided to just go with my trusty spray adhesive and it worked great!

This project is SOOOO easy and will take you about an hour to do. You’ll need 12×12 paper — I got this large book on sale awhile back for $9. But this would be even cheaper if you just bought the paper in singles:


I had a ten foot MDF board cut down into one foot pieces at Lowe’s:
And used a brown spray paint to spray the sides and the edges:

Then spray adhesived (my made up word) the crap outta them — the back of the paper and the front of the board. I let them both set up for about a minute, then just placed the paper on each board:

I stacked them on each other as they dried to make sure everything stayed where it should.
To hang them, I nailed them right into the wall, instead of putting brackets on the back (all those holes will be REAL fun if I ever decide to take them down):I love it! I bought trim to do the edges like Ballard, but in the end decided they didn’t need it:
I’ve seen this done on other blogs, and I think most people use canvases. I was being cheap — all the wood for this was less than $10. Total with the wood, paper and spray paint, this cost less than $25. The Ballard version is $200!:
My version for $25:

I LOVE when I can save $175. 😉

Thanks for having me Kari! For more of my thrifty decorating and crafts, come visit me at my place, Thrifty Decor Chick.

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Comments

  5. Me and My Family says

    that is such a great idea! I ‘m gonna have to make me some now. Thanks. I am also a follower of your blog Thrifty Decor Chick. It was fun to see you over here too. P.S. did Lowes actually cut the wood for you?

    reply to this comment >

  8. The Hughes Family says

    Sarah I made these right after you blogged about them on your blog! I absolutly LOOOOVVVVEEEE it. I have it in my bedroom…it has its own little wall. It fits there sooooo perfect! Once again I love your blog and I love this blog…Always getting great ideas and saving money!

    reply to this comment >

  15. The Cake Lady says

    I just found your blog!! I came across it by chance then remembered that we had ‘talked’ before:)
    You left a comment on my blog…. not sure if I told you but you asked if you could add mine to yours! Please know that would be wonderful! I would like to add you to mine as well! So many GREAT ideas!!
    Shelley, the cake lady

    reply to this comment >

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