Crafts and Decorating for Less

I never realized how expensive decorating could be until I got my own place. Seriously, the price of picture frames, four dollars for a remotely decent frame is absurd. I know most of you are thinking four dollars isn't all that bad, but take that four dollars for a 4x6 frame and multiply that by 20. So now you are paying 80 dollars for picture frames. That's my electric bill. I don't know about you but I find that to be a little ridiculous. Especially for picture frames that aren't the best quality, high quality ones are even more expensive. So after a looking around and not finding picture frames that I liked, I decided to take a different more creative route. I went to Michael's and ACMoore had 4x6 unfinished wooden picture frames for a dollar. Now these frames aren't perfect, they aren't always smooth, and they don't have glass or even plastic, but they are a dollar, and unfinished frames that have glass are two or three dollars more. Not worth it when you are just going to paint the frame. I then go and buy the little bottles of paint, each of them are anywhere between 47 cents and a dollar. The 47 cent ones work just as well as the more expensive ones, but that's up to you, I am a big fan of Apple Barrel and Craft Smart. I also buy some one inch foam brushes. These are generally about 30 cents apiece or you can buy four for a dollar. Depending on the number of frames you are getting and the amount of paint you are getting the four pack is generally the better deal. Then when you get home, sit down and paint. Each frame, again depending on what all you are doing to it, takes about 30-45 minutes, start to finish this includes drying time. You can then use the little dowel rod they give you to help the frame stand up or you can hang them up, and make a pretty photo wall.