Home Decor on a Dime

I am always looking for ways to decorate my home without spending a lot of money.  I want a house that is welcoming, restful, cozy and 'home'.  I don't want it to cost me an arm and a leg though.  It can be done, you just have to be willing to look and sometimes get creative.

I have a lot of pictures in my house.  I have boxes of pictures that aren't even hung because I don't have enough room on my walls!  Here's why I have so many pictures:

I like to take images from cards, calendars, postcards, magazines, books and posters and cut them to the right size and frame them.  I don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on a framed, matted picture when I can make it myself for pennies.  

This is a card I received in the mail years ago.  I cut it down to fit in a 5x7 picture frame.  (I got this picture frame in high school as a gift.)  I have always loved these Renoir paintings of the dancing couples.  Now I have one framed in my room!

This is a poster I had been admiring at Michael's for quite a while and finally bought when they had them on sale.  I also got the big frame from Michael's when it was on sale also.  They entire picture cost me around $40.  The side "matting" is actually the paper that came inside of the frame.  I actually saw this same picture for sale at Menard's for $249!  I was so excited that mine was 84% cheaper!

I found this black and white photo of a North Dakota farmstead in an old book that had been bought at an estate auction.  I opened up the cover and this treasure was inside!  I framed it in a frame I got as a Christmas gift and have plans to hang it in my kitchen again soon.  For now, it is gracing the top of my bookshelf.

The photos below are actually pictures I cut out of a magazine and framed in 4x6 frames I bought from IKEA.  The tulips are actually a postcard I trimmed down to fit in the frame.  

This picture is one of my favorites.  It is of the Chenonceau castle in France.  My 2010 calendar was titled "France" and I found this picture and a few others in it.  I just framed it in a 8x10 frame I bought on clearance for $2.  

I kinda go overboard cutting out pictures, but I have so many frames that I've been given or bought for SUPER cheap.  I rarely need to buy a frame for a picture I find.  I always have something to switch out when I want to switch up the feel of a room!

Have fun finding new inexpensive treasures!!

Blessings,