I would love to see someone research different types of creative processes. How do artists start? How do writers form ideas for best selling novels? The idea fascinates me because I want to know if I'm the only one with a ping pong table upstairs in the ol' noggin'. When I get an idea, it bounces around in my head - back and forth, up and down and sideways, before it finally scores a point...or gets to the point. That's basically the back story for a fantastic project I've had bouncing around in my head for awhile: 3D wall art.
The idea started with a roll of
Prism wrapping paper from Paper Source. As soon as I saw it, I knew it had to be art on my wall. It was that beautiful. It was made to hang on my wall. The pattern is a little psychedelic, but that is one thing I love about it.
The idea began to blossom when I found this extra large frame at the thrift store for $5. Yes, I said $5. My husband snapped this cheesy pose as I was excitedly telling him about my thrifting score.
But the idea was made possible by some amazing 3M products.
The first thing I did after cleaning off the frame
(seriously, clean thrifted frames thoroughly before painting or restaining...mine was disgustingly dirty) was fill all of the little imperfections, with
3M's Stainable Wood Filler . Gosh I love this stuff. I used it on
my banister a few months ago and fell in love. It works just as you would expect filler to work, but it absorbs stain as if it is part of the natural wood. This also means it is easily painted.
Next, I sanded the extra filler granules off the frame with
3M Advanced Abrasives and made the wood smooth and paintable. I love 3M's new packaging for their sandpaper, because they offer packs of small rectangle pieces for easy use. I used to tear my large pieces of sandpaper into hand-held pieces and now 3M does the work for me!
Because I used wrapping paper for this project, the pieces on the roll didn't quite fill the entire frame. To compensate, I used a second sheet and layered it under the top piece. By cutting out the triangle edges, I was able to seamlessly line up the pieces.
I glued the paper right to the edge of the frame with tacky glue.
To back the paper, I cut a piece of cardboard to size and fit it into the back of the frame.
It may look ghetto, but hot glue is a fantastic sealer. I pushed hot glue into all of the crevices on the back of the frame for extra support. And guess what, no one ever sees the back of a picture frame.
With the leftover pieces of paper, I cut out differed sized triangles. I backed the pieces with black cardstock and then added foam dots to the corners.
I flipped the frame over and stuck the triangles to the patterned paper. The 3D triangles add another level of dimension and psychedelic-ness to the art. Swoon.
Because this baby is beastly, I decided to pull in the big guns and recruit the hubby to help attach a heavy duty hanging system to the back of the frame. Can you tell he is SUPER excited to help me?
To hang large or small items perfectly straight, use
ScotchBlue? Painter's Tape to mark the space between your two nails. You'll never have to hammer more than those two necessary holes in your wall ever again.
We hung the picture over our stairs on a large, blank wall that has been haunting me since we moved in. Perhaps you remember it?
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| Blech! |
Now that blank space is graced with a one-of-a-kind piece of art. Here you can see the view as you go down the stairs. The extra triangles really pop off of the canvas.
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| I love it from every angle! |
When you find a large frame without glass, don't pass it up, realize the potential and make 3D art for your home instead.
This post is a collaboration with 3M DIY. To keep up-to-date on projects, products and sampling visit
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