Displaying Art

I know my art student parents are always asking how I recommend framing and displaying children's art. Here's a neat project that I did in my laundry/craft room that was very simple, and provides a creative and inexpensive way to showcase the day to day art that your child does. I wish I could remember where I saw this idea so I could give credit, but I've had it filed away in my head for awhile now.

First I chose a size of paper to serve as a template. I picked a 12 x 12 piece of scrapbook paper so an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper could hang vertically or horizontally. I traced my squares on the wall with pencil. Now just get creative on your frames. I free-handed three designs in pencil, but if you are not comfortable with that you could draw a template on a paper bag, cut it out and trace around it.

Next, with a smaller brush, I painted my edges with my paint color (I always paint edges first, then fill in). Then I used a larger brush to paint in the total frame. I didn't worry much about coverage or the edges being "just perfect" because I was going for the whimsical, artsy look. I used Delta Ceramcoat opaque white.

Now for the details. With a small dry brush, I went around the edges and corners with gold (Liquitex Basics Matt) and then added the polka dots (I love a pattern) in moroccan red (Delta Ceramcoat) and highlighted them with a touch of gold. Lastly, I used a fine point black sharpie marker and made some black accents around the edges and corners. Other variations: paint the inside of frame with black board or magnetic paint, mount a cute clip to hold the art, or personalize the frames with your children's names.