Upcycled Art

This feels like it is never ending. I don’t know what I was thinking trying to completely change the color pallet in my house. It seems that once I finally think I’m done, there is something else that sticks out like a soar thumb that needs to be changed.
Well. I am happy to say this. I am done with our living room! (cross your figures that I don’t find anything else to change in there J  ) All that was left was one small project and one humungous project…both that were completed this weekend! Now, only if my dining room will fall in line J 
Okay, for the small project- I once heard that you need to change around the art in your house often because if its been there for awhile, you forget to notice it. I think this totally make sense. My front room has had the same pictures in it since we moved it. Pretty much in the same place. Last month I moved them around to different walls, and voila! I notice them all the time now.
It was the same with this picture in the corner.

See, you hardly even notice it….even when there’s a big red circle around it. It was an attempt to bring some photos of me and my husband into our living room. He criticizes me for not having more pictures of us, so I put this in hereJ  Well, obviously, it’s never been noticed. I know this because first off…he always says we don’t have any pictures of us still! And this is sitting right above his head J  Second, because when I totally changed up the living room, I didn’t even think to change it cuz it was ‘out of sight out of mind’ kind of thing.

Well. Its off the wall now….mainly because the colors on the frame and matte were too dark and they stuck out like a soar thumb after everything else was changed. So, I had to figure out something to put in its place that wouldn’t go unnoticed like this little baby did. And of course, it had to be cheap. Cheap as in I have to either make it out of wood scraps or craft paper or something that I already had in the house.
Then I remembered the two empty rolls of wrapping paper that were left over from Christmas. I had saved them to do some crafts with and totally forgot about them!

I knew I didn’t want my new ‘art’ piece to just be the color of the rolls. I had a project stuck in my head and always imagined it white on the outside and brown on the inside, just to give it some dimension. So….next comes the Big Fail. For whatever reason, I thought that spray painting these tubes would work. Umm….note to self for next time. It doesn’t! I wasted half a can spray painting just one of these, and you couldn’t even tell it had more than a drop of paint on it once it dried.
So, next was the craft paint. Which worked perfect!
After the paint was dried, I just went after the rolls with my scissors. I flatted them first, then cut about ever half inch or so.
Next, I laid out the cut pieces on a table and started playing around to see what creative thing I could come up with. I knew I wanted it to be long, but that’s all I really cared about.
Well, the design ‘blossomed’ from there. Lol. Sorry, I had too J I would say no pun on words, but I totally meant to do it J
Then I just took some hot glue and tediously glued every piece one by one together.

Perfecto!


Well, now my husband totally notices it. First thing he says….what in the world is that? Next thing he says…Its cool, but isn’t it odd to be in the living room? Lol. I think as time goes by, and I get more empty rolls of wrapping paper, I’ll add to this little art piece, right now it seems like it needs just a little more something…


But, until then...no more forgotten pieces of art or photos here any more…at least for now…and you can’t beat free and upcycled art!

17 comments

  1. OMG! That's so funny that you made this. I have been saving up my tp rolls to do just that!

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  2. I can see why you tried spray painting first... it's waaaay more fun! I love individual art pieces that no one else has-- fabulous job and I love your living room! Thanks for stopping by my little bit of cyberspace. I'm a new follower of yours for sure!

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  3. That is so cute, I love those too! Mine isn't as fun and floral but I had my go with them as well! Visiting from Someday Crafts and I am a new follower!
    Have a great day!
    Michelle
    www.delicateconstruction.blogspot.com

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  4. nice upcycle. I like it.

    megan
    craftycpa.blogspot.com

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  5. You are crazy, and oh so fabulous. Why haven't I been keeping up with you like I should? Sheesh! I've been on a re-do rampage lately. So fun!

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  6. OMG! That's so awesome! Stealing it for sure!!!

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  7. You have such great ideas, I wish I was this creative :) keep the ideas coming!!

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  8. I have an entire drawer filled with toilet paper rolls to make a version of this project, I'll be sure to post and link back!! This is so awesome!!

    www.ditzalee.blogspot.com

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  9. Just in case you haven’t seen it yet, Stopping by to let you know you’ve been featured at
    http://diycraftstomake.blogspot.com/2012/03/40-fun-toilet-paper-roll-craft-projects.html

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  10. Lol ! Bonjour à nouveau, je viens d'aller placer un des miens au mur !
    PS le "tien" est plus beau (grr...!!, je ris !)

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  11. Another tip for the stubborn sticky glue on jars is orange air therapy from Trader Joe's. It's basically orange oil, so if you spray a little directly onto the sticky glue and rub with your finger it comes right off. It works wonders!

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  12. What a great project! This is awesome and perfect for the kids! I really loved the creativity and resourcefulness of this wall art. We did a toilet paper roll snake project out of the same materials you used. You should check it out! :) EarlyLearning.Momtusted.com: Toilet Paper Roll Snake Project

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  13. Along with the Christmas Tree recycling, I also keep the wrapping paper left overs from the holiday. They are always useful for some project. I have used toilet paper rolls for the same project, but haven't thought that wrapping paper rolls can also do the job. Smarty :)

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  14. I have been working on a couple myself, but not really sure how you hang it afterwards on the wall. Like just hang it on a small nail?

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  15. Wow, that was really creative, I had a basement full of toilet paper rolls in some bags, didn’t know why I kept them until this company had our house cleaned and then throwed them out.
    I wish I saved some for some creative wall design like that.
    Keep up the creative work.

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happy DIYing! Alicia