How to Create a Gallery Wall

A gallery wall is a collection of artwork that looks casually assembled; a perfectly haphazard mix of sizes and shapes. It's a great way to show off a collection of prints, photographs or even objects. It also makes a space look more personal and lived-in than a single piece of art. 

Some helpful tips to pulling off a great gallery wall that shows off your style: 
- Keep frames approximately 3" apart for more structured look...

... or space frames wider apart for a more bohemian vibe

via Little Green Notebook

Make Your Own Art: Rasterbator

Sounds dirty but isn't: Rasterbator. This great (free!) program allows you to blow up an image to any size and print it out in individual pages that you assemble into a giant poster or a even a mural. A great way to cover a whole wall without painting a thing and a cheap way to get a lot of look. 

via Flickr

 via Flickr

Make Your Own Art: Maps

This is the second installment of a series on making your own art, but one that I have been continually working on for quite a while because it involves a growing collection: maps from travels. I have always loved maps, old and new, and the collection started because I couldn't bear to throw them away after using them. What makes this project personal is that several are marked up with directions, routes taken and sites seen, and looking at them brings back memories of great trips.

Jewelry as Art

I never quite know what to do with jewelry. I’ve never been partial to keeping it in boxes because everything seems to get so tangled in there. It’s like a free for all, and good luck to you if you need to grab something in a hurry. 

I have seen jewelry stores with limited space come up with some amazing solutions to displaying their jewelry, including the use of frames on the wall. Many fill the frames with velvet or cork and hang items up on pins. Others have used branches or even antlers. I'm trying out a web of colorful string inside an empty frame to hold some earrings. 

Make Your Own Art: Drawing on Glass

I have a huge appreciation for artist everywhere. However, I also believe that there is no better way to have a personal connection to a piece of art than to make it yourself. There are many affordable ways to make art, regardless of skill level. In the coming weeks I will be unveiling a few such projects. 

The first is perhaps the most simple: draw on the glass inside a frame, take out the back and hang only the frame with the glass.