Here’s another project inspired by something in a store that is way more expensive than it needs to be! Ballard Designs has a very lovely set of 9 prints in small square frames for a rather unrealistic $168. They were a lot less lovely at that price! My dollar store had remarkably similar frames, and I already had a ton of pretty papers laying around – so I made the set myself for less than $10.

Well, I correct myself – my kids made these, not me! And my girls were fighting over who got to use them in their rooms when we were all done!

Related Pages: Bulletin Board Decorations, Cricut Crafts, Recycled Frame Photo Holder Craft

Easy Wall Art From Dollar Store Frames & Scrapbook Paper

Here’s the Ballard Designs Inspiration

Ballard Designs Inspiration

What You Need to Make this Easy Wall Art

Scrapbook paper – 9 sheets that coordinate well with each other

9 square dollar store frames

A paper cutter or scissors

How to Make this Easy Wall Art

First you need to pop out the frame parts to measure how large to cut your scrapbook paper. Mine were 7 inches square.

My frames had plexiglass and not real glass, which made this a very kid-friendly project. Make sure that your frames are the same or supervise carefully!

Measuring the Art for the Frame

Next, cut 9 pieces of paper into your squares for the frames.

Note: if your scrapbook paper has large designs, you may want to make sure that your cuts don’t intrude on the art on the paper. It would be a shame to cut the head off of the bird in the first frame, for example! Also, if you have smaller patterns, try to cut the squares so that the pattern is centered side to side and top to bottom.

Using a Paper Cutter

Always explain to kids the dangers of using a paper cutter and supervise accordingly!!! Scissors will also work, of course, and the frame will generally hide edge imperfections anyway.

Then simply pop those scrapbook paper squares right back into your frames!

Framing the Scrapbook Paper Artwork

This would be a great project for a kid to make and give to a sibling, don’t you think?

Remember, this is Day 10 of Twleve Days of Gifts Kids Can Make! 10 down, 2 to go!

As you can tell, this week I’ve been on a recycled crafts kick for Earth Day. But what’s really happening is that I’m relapsing into my terrible pack rat ways as suddenly I am having a hard time throwing anything out at all! I suppose the earth shall thank me someday for this, but my husband isn’t thanking me. *grin*

And is anyone else appreciating the irony of making a nightlight out of a Crystal Light container? I know, I should have quit while I was ahead.

Recycled Nightlight Craft

What You Need to Make a Recycled Night Light Craft

Recycled Night Light craft Materials

• An empty Crystal Light container
• A night light from your local Dollar Store (the real cheap kind shown below)
• A plastic covered large paper clip
• Mod Podge or other glue for decoupage
• Paper or fabric to decoupage the plastic Crystal Light container
• A paint brush for the glue
• Ribbon trim (about 30″ inches)
• Wire cutters
• Razor blade to cut the container
• A small ruler or other straight edge
• A medium sized nail and a hammer to poke two holes in the plastic
• Glue gun

How to Make This Night Light Recycled Craft

Cut the Crystal Light Container with a Razor Blade

First you need to cut up your Crystal Light (or Wyler’s Light, to be PC about it all) container. In this photo, I was using the tall Wyler’s Light container, or this would also be the same size as the extra large Crystal Light packages (with 6 tubs, not 4).

First I held the ruler straight edge to the side of the container and carefully scored the plastic to slice the container open from top to bottom. I then was able to cut through the container easily (but carefully, because it’s easy to slip on a curved surface). I repeated this step so that I cut out about a one-inch piece from the side of the container. Then I was able to lay the plastic flat on a carboard surface and cut the container into two even pieces, as shown above. If I messed up at all, it was easy to clean up my edges with sturdy kitchen scissors.

Poke Holes in the Plastic with a Nail

Next I poked two small holes into the bottom corners of the plastic with a hammer and nail. I recommend using a larger nail than the one shown above, because I ended up needing to find a screw to twist into the holes to make them a little larger. You need them to be large enough to stick the end of the paper clip through them.

Decoupage with Recycled Tissue Paper

After you have poked the holes into the corners, now is the time to decoupage the plastic however you like. I used tissue paper circles to coordinate with the ribbon in my example at the top. My daughter took the leftover tissue packing paper we get at the dollar store when we buy fragile items, and we used a circle hole puncher to cut out and decoupage her night light.

You probably don’t want to use paper from a book or magazine, unless you are happy with the reverse side showing through. Because when the night light is turned on, it really glows through the paper.

Quick decorating tip - you can also use fabric that coordinates with your child’s room decor!

Now you want to unbend a paperclip and wrap it around the base of the night light. Be sure you’re doing this with plastic wrapped wire and around the groove of the night light at the base (made for sliding the plastic cover onto the light). Higher end night lights aren’t nearly as easy to use, as they don’t have this handy groove to hold your wire.

Twist the paper clip around the base with your fingers or with the wire cutters, and then use the wire cutters to make two “L” shaped bends in the paper clip as shown in the second photo. Slip the ends of the paper clip through your holes.

Lastly, you will need to lay a line of glue from your hot glue gun underneath the wires and glue the ends of the paper clip to the back side of the decoupaged container. If you don’t do this, the cover will flop all over the place.

Now you want to cover the edges of your plastic cover with ribbon to hide the wire and make the edges look polished. Start at the back and cover the back two ends with ribbon first, and add enough glue from the hot glue gun around the paper clip to cover it up too.

To put ribbon across the top and bottm, fold over the edge just a bit and glue it in place to give the corners a clean look (like in the inset in the second image above). Then simply glue the ribbon onto the top and bottom edges with the glue gun.

And viola! You  are done! Start to finish the craft takes about 30-45 minutes, not including drying time for the decoupage.

Be sure to check out the rest of our recycled crafts and all of our Earth Day activities and printables!