Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

  • Shop Our Houses
    • Our Current House
    • Our Richmond House
    • Our Beach House
    • Our Duplex
  • Before & Afters
    • Our Current House
    • Our Previous House
    • Our Beach House
    • Our Duplex
    • Our First House
    • Our Second House
    • Our Showhouse
  • DIY & Decorating Tips
    • Most Popular
    • Home Improvement
    • Painting
    • Cleaning & Organizing
    • Crafting & Art
    • More . . .
  • Painting Projects
  • Travel Guides
  • Shop
    • Our Fav Home Finds
    • Our Lighting Line
    • Our Books
    • Book Club Picks
    • Black-Owned Businesses

Young House Love » Our Second House » Making Five Dollar Art With Colored Paper

| By John Petersik | March 10, 2011 | 511 Comments

Making Five Dollar Art With Colored Paper

Remember that grid of eight Ribba frames above our sectional (that we got right the second time around)?

Ribbas Straight On Rug

Well, we figured out some in-the-meantime “art” for them (so we don’t have to stare at those brown squares every night). You know, until we come up with something better. And it only cost us five bucks. Okay, $5.17 if you’re being picky. So worth it.

We’re still not 100% sure what we want there in the long run, but we’re leaning towards something graphic and colorful. And since the brown frame back is the opposite of that, we wanted to at least put something in there temporarily that wouldn’t cost much or take any time to toss together. Enter one of our favorite solutions: 12 x 12″ craft paper from Michael’s.

ColorRibbas Paper N Sue

We picked out eight sheets that complement Sue (aka: our inspiration napkin). They were the perfect size to slip in our 12 x 12 Ribba frames and at about 60 cents a pop it was kind of a no-brainer.

ColorRibbas Receipt2

We tried a few different arrangements on the floor before putting anything in frames. Since we had picked a couple of duplicate colors, we wanted to keep them far enough away from one another, so we ended up with this grouping:

ColorRibbas Paper On Floor

The frames definitely helped them feel less like sixty-cent craft paper and more like something worthy of being displayed behind glass (seriously, what can’t you slap in a frame for a more polished look?). It definitely added that temporary injection of color we were looking for, and it was kind of reminiscent of the cool art that we saw – and loved – in this House Crashing adventure from back in the day (aka: a month ago).

ColorRibbas Horizon Straigh

It’s kind of like a simplified version of Sue the napkin now lives on our walls, eh?

ColorRibbas Blown Out Windo

We’ve been living with them for the last 24 hours and might be in danger of falling in love with them as a not-so-temporary solution. Uh oh.

ColorRibbas Close Angle

They just look so much nicer than the brown frame backs they covered. Actually, what we’re thinking that we might do is try to build on the concept somehow, like adding some modern white doilies, stencils, or layering some other pattern in front of them so we still can enjoy the color scheme that “shows through” while creating something a little more graphic. Almost like a custom version of those Classical Symmetry prints from Crate & Barrel (this set of six retails for $369, btw).

ColorRibbas Crate Barrel

Or we might still consider doing the personal photo thing by using the colorful paper as large mats around small square black & white pictures. Sherry even mentioned sticking tiny fortune cookie fortunes in the center of each colored sheet of paper. So you have to get really close to read them. ‘Til we decide on anything, we’re kinda loving the cost-of-a-Subway-footlong solution for these eight frames. And of course we’ll keep you posted when we finally get around to updating them for the long haul.

ColorRibbas Vertical Straig

Do you guys have any colorful art that you’re loving? Or affordable sets of images that you’ve spotted? Oh and how cool is this solution to empty Ribba frames that Krissy posted on our Facebook page? As Sherry says (way too much) “um yeah, love it.”

Psst- We announced the winner of this week’s giveaway. Click here to see if it’s you.

More posts from Young House Love

Filed Under: Crafting & Art, Our Second House

A Large Jute Rug For The Bedroom
Spring Flowers Are Blooming

Stuff We Love

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

John and Sherry Sitting On Woven ChairHey, we’re John & Sherry. We’ve fixed up 7 homes, written books, designed products, started a podcast, and then downsized & moved to the beach! Here you’ll find over 3,000 DIY projects & home updates. More about us…
*This site contains ads and affiliate links*
See our disclaimer & privacy policy to learn more

Latest Finds

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

SHOP OUR LIGHTING

Young House Love Shades Of Light Capiz Chandelier

We’re Digging

Traditional Rug
The “Magic” Rug
Smokeless Solo Stove Firepit
Smokeless Firepit
Outdoor Solar LED Path Lights
Solar Path Lights
Criss Cross Office Chair
Our Desk Chair
Blue Air 211 Air Purifier
Our Air Purifiers
Eufy 11S Max Robot Vacuum
Our Robot Vacuum
Kohler Memoirs Toilet
Our Favorite Toilet
Livable Luxe Book
Fav Design Book
SEE MORE OF OUR FAVORITE FINDS > >

  • About
  • FAQs
  • Press
  • Contact
  • :)

© 2026 Young House Love ® · Disclaimer · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · A Fun Wordpress theme on Genesis Framework · Hosted by Liquid Web