Art Camp to Wall Art

This summer, one of my stepsons has been attending an art camp. A few weekends ago, he brought some of his collection for us to keep at our house. I made a digital portfolio of artwork he has created in the past, and I also have A LOT of his art stored away in a keepsake box, but I really wanted to do something to showcase his work.

When we moved into our house, I painted a magnetic stripe on his bedroom wall to display some of his artwork. The magnetic wall does not work as well as planned. Boo to the Who.

I thought at first I hadn't painted the wall correctly, but after reading around Blogland, I found out that this is a normal occurrence. What a bummer! I was determined not to let this wall hold me back. WRONG AGAIN! This wall has held me back since last August...ugh. I have tried all kinds of magnets...NO GO! I had pretty much given up until I was shopping for some school stuff at Target, and I ran across some magnetic clips that weren't very heavy. I was skeptical, but I thought I would give it one more shot. I figured if they didn't work, I was out a buck and I could use them at school.

I took them home and tried them on the wall. It worked!! I danced around the room, sang a little song, and ran (literally) back downstairs to paint them white. I am so glad I was home alone, my husband would have probably had me committed. Then, I hung some art with them, ahhhhhh...it has been a long time coming.

I also chose to frame one of his larger pieces of work, but I needed a frame. What to do? What to do? Find one on the cheap. So I did.

I found a frame with this lovely picture in at Goodwill for $5. (I forgot to take a picture of the frame before I painted it.)

It was fun carrying it around in my buggy, especially when an 80 year old man stopped me to admire the print. Awesome! He hoovered over my buggy for a good five minutes while I browsed telling me how beautiful it was. Can you say..."Akward Turtle"? Either way, I told him he could have the print, I just wanted the frame. He decided to pass.

The frame was a light wood color before, but I decided to paint it white. I made some matting out of black posterboard and put the frame back together with the artwork.

I think it turned out pretty good. Better than being stuck in a box somewhere. Now this aspiring artisit has his own bedroom gallery.

P.S. More on this room to come! Lots of thrifty finds in this space. Can you pick them out?