Dollar Store Art

After roaming through the dollar store, I found a big stack of art prints. Most were pretty tacky, but after digging through all of them, I did find one that I kind of liked. After I brought it home, I liked it even more (my husband thinks it looks tacky–to each his own, right). I also found lots of foam core board, which is a perfect way to mount pictures and eliminate the use of a picture frame. You can use foam core with any print or any photo and it will look great.

If you’ve never used foam core, here is a quick tutorial to show you how it’s done.

Place your print on the foam core and trace around the edges.

Use a sharp razor or exacto knife to cut the foam core. Make sure you place
something protective, like a piece of cardboard, underneath while cutting.

Spray the foam core with spray adhesive and carefully place your print on top.
Use your hands to smooth out the print to make sure everything sticks.

There are a few options for hanging your finished piece on the wall. Command picture hanging strips are easy and you can remove them without damaging the wall. Just peel and stick.

Or you can use a claw hook like this one below. You can buy small packs of these at any craft store for cheap.
They are really easy to use. The little claws just poke right into the back of the foam core.
Hang the hook on a nail hammered into the wall.

Here is a close up of the foam core from the side.

Here is the finished product. I tried hanging this in a few different spots in our bedroom.
Sorry about the glare on the first one. I couldn’t get rid of it.

Still not sure where I’ll use this print–maybe in my office. I’ll have to think about it. So the total cost for this was $2.00! If you have tons of bare walls, but don’t want to spend a lot of money filling them, then see what you can dig up at the dollar store. Most stores bring in new and/or different items every few months, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t find something right away. You can also find a ton of regular picture frames to use for any other photos or art you have. Most of them look kind of cheap, but a fresh coat of spray paint in a fun color will do wonders and make them sparkle.