DIY Vintage Insect Wall Art

Today I want to share a fun project that I made for our guestroom.  I really liked the look of vintage insect art. I know it sounds kind of unusual, using images of insects as art.  But when it looks vintage, it kind of makes it feel like nature is being used as art in a beautiful way.

This projects re-purposes two large Goodwill frames, and it uses a fun new purpose for two small Dollar Tree frames.

First, I found images that I liked on clip art and enlarged them to fit my frames.

Then, I printed them on regular computer paper to see how they printed.

Once I was happy with the result, I cut vintage scripted scrapbook paper down to size and printed the images onto the scrapbook paper.

Using two light-weight frames from the Dollar Tree, I framed the images and set them aside.

I then moved on to two larger pieces of framed art I found from Goodwill.  They were originally Target pieces, marked $10 each at Goodwill.  I purchased them on the first Saturday of the month from Goodwill making them $5 each.  While they were great winter pieces of framed snowflakes, I had no place to put them as they were, so I re-purposed them.  For this project, I was only using them frame.  I disassembled everything, being careful to salvage the other pieces for future projects.

Once I had two empty frames, I measured enough green burlap for each frame.  Burlap is an inexpensive fabric, usually only a few bucks a yard. I purchased mine at JoAnn Fabrics.

To cut burlap straight, pull a piece of the twine……

….and keep pulling until the entire piece is pulled out of the fabric…..

….leaving a visible straight line to see where to cut with a good pair of sewing scissors.

Once I had two perfectly measured pieces of cut burlap, I hot glued the pieces of burlap to the back of my frame.  Note that I did not use the original backing of the frame for this project.  I only used the frame.  The burlap is visible on both the front and back of this project.

I then measured and securely hung the frames to my wall.

And lastly, I put a nail through my burlap in the middle of both frames….

….and hung my two light-weight framed pieces of vintage insect art made out of the Dollar Tree Frames, creating a frame within a frame:)

Then I stepped back and admired my work.

This project cost me less than $20 for both finished pieces, and I’m very happy with the end results.  They make lovely pieces of art in the guestroom and it was a fun, creative re-purpose of frames.