The Littlest Frame

Once upon a time, two princesses (my friend, Addie and I) traveled to the far off land of wall hooks, desk organization, and accent pillows (Home Goods). One princess (me) had a mission to bring back a pile of frames to make the royal castle (our house, of course) feel more homey. As it turns out, all but one of the frames were filled and placed with care… but the princess had no idea what to do with the littlest frame. But then everything changed.

Ok, ok, I just filled it and put it somewhere.

The end. 🙂 Aren’t fairy tales fun? You can read all of the magical details of that Home Goods quest in this post.

I digress. Let’s talk about that littlest frame- see it there (on top of the box) with all of the others? Well, I found pictures to put in the rest of them and shelves to display them on (read all about that here), but I wanted to switch it up with the baby frame.

Instead of a photo of us, I shuffled through my stock pile of things that might be good as free “art” someday- sketches, letters, calendars, etc. Now here’s the thing- sometimes I feel like those calendars with the generic nature photos are kind of cheesy. BUT, they can make GREAT free art!

It took me awhile to decide on what to put in my littlest frame, but I knew that I wanted something seasonal. Enter the calendar idea. Awhile ago, I had grabbed two outdated calendars out of a “give away” pile at our church. I wasn’t sure what I would use them for and truthfully, I didn’t love each picture in them anyway. But hey, why not? Which brings us to…

TIP #1: CHECK BEFORE YOU TOSS. You never know what you might come across! Even if there is just one month out of twelve with a usable picture to pop in a frame, you just earned yourself a free piece of art!

TIP #2: GIVE IT A SHOT. No, you might not love the picture- it might not look good hanging anywhere in your house. At first glance, that is… but how about during the holidays? Does it have any subtle red or green in there? Or maybe there are orange tones that could come in handy for a quick autumn change up on your mantel? I will admit- I am the first one to write off certain styles of art that don’t appeal to me, BUT something happens when you put an image behind a frame. Frames have a magical (I have now used that word twice in this post, for the record) way of elevating things to look better than they would on their own.

TIP #3: DON’T BE AFRAID TO CROP. This one’s really important and can help you take a generic calendar print or photo from blah to “how much did you pay for that and who’s the artist?!”. While a picture might look just fine in its entirety, sometimes cutting and framing just a portion of it as a “close-up” shot makes it look that much fancier (and sometimes even more interesting!). Additionally, you might have a picture that is just okay, but if you “zoom in” on a specific part of it by cutting it out and only framing that part, the image will change altogether!

TIP #4: DON’T FORGET THE BOTTOM. Of the calendar, that is. Anything can be framed! Even those little boxes with the numbers. 🙂 Maybe you circle an important date, cut out around that spot, and put it in a frame for the month. These types of details are great conversation starters, unique ways for you to remember special moments of the year and fun ways for people passing through to get a little glimpse into your life.

So there you have it- a few tips to take (FREE!) outdated calendar art and use it for art in your house, dorm, apartment, office, bedroom… wherever you call home! Here’s how my spring freebie turned out (loving it!!!)…

My favorite part is that the colors from the photo tie in so nicely with the books and candle… hooray for happy accidents! Seriously. If I had tried that on purpose, it wouldn’t have happened. 🙂

Ok, friends- talk to me! Anyone ever pop something unique into a frame and call it art? Do tell… I am always interested in kidnapping your brilliant schemes if it means free stuff. 🙂