I told you I would work on my gallery wall this weekend, and I did! It’s so much fun! The best part was finding great ways to reuse items I already owned. Here are a few of the DIY and budget-friendly things I did with my gallery wall decor.

Tank Decor = Wall Decor

Since I got rid of this seashell tank decor tray thingy….

…I wanted to find a way to reuse the tray part. I have held on to it for a few months, trying to determine the best way to use it. Then I saw THIS GALLERY WALL and noticed that she used a similar item in her wall decor. Off to Hobby Lobby to burn that gift card I got for Christmas! I spent $4.99 on these little wood letters (only to find out later that Walmart has a similar set for cheaper!):

Originally I was going to write “family” but realized the letters were too small and I could actually fit a quote. Then the romantic in me came out and I ended up with “All You Need Is Love” because who doesn’t want that song stuck in their head all day, every day? Then I cheated on my hot glue gun with Elmer’s glue (shhh…don’t tell!).

Next up: a few coats of glossy white paint. For some reason I neglected to prime it first…so I think I need a few more coats. Oh well. Isn’t it cute!? (PS. I got rid of the little flower things.)

Next up…

Painted Glass Sign

 I had this 11×14 frame I bought from Savers for $2.99 a few weeks ago, planning to use it for my gallery wall. Then I didn’t have a picture to fit it, so my plan changed. There are some cool painted glass signs floating around on Pinterest lately, so I figured I’d try it out. I printed out my “sign” on vellum paper, so that I could see through it. I taped it to the FRONT of my glass, exactly where I wanted it.

 Then I flipped it OVER, and used this Americana Writer paint to trace my letters on the back side.

I painted on the back because I wanted the paint to be protected so that I can easily clean the front of the glass when it gets dusty. This paint is essentially puffy paint, which I didn’t realize when I bought it, but I like the fine tip. My first idea was to use a fine paint brush and a multi-purpose paint (like the Martha Stewart craft paint I used for the hand print ornaments), but I was really happy when I realized how easy this would be. It literally took me about 30 seconds. And from the front, it looks like regular paint – you can’t tell it’s puffy paint. After the lettering was dry, I put the glass into my frame. I used my hot glue gun around the edges of it to hold the glass inside the frame.

I hung it on the wall, and it’s done! Okay, honestly the word “done” is hardly in my vocabulary. I think I’ll add some decorative swirls.

On to...

Photo Mats

I also made my own “mats” for my pictures since most of my prints were 4×6 and I had 5×7 frames. I wanted a pop of color on my wall since I did go a more generic route with the items and their colors. To make the mats, I cut 4 strips of paper into 3/4 inch widths, then trimmed two of them to 5 inches and the other two to 7 inches. I arranged them in a square, used some tape on the back to hold them together, and voila! Colored matting for my photos.

Ready for the final gallery wall reveal???

Check back tomorrow!