Make DIY wall art with office supplies | How About Orange

June 30, 2011

Make DIY wall art with office supplies

Even the artistically challenged can make modern, graphic artwork using office supplies. The red painting above is made with 3/4" round Avery labels and 1/4" tape from Office Max.

I used a 10-inch blank canvas from an art store, but you could paint this design on a piece of wood or spray paint it on metal, too.

If using a canvas, I'd suggest brushing a coat of Mod Podge or acrylic gel medium on first; it will smooth out the rough surface a bit so the paint will be less likely to bleed underneath the tape. When the surface is ready, arrange pieces of tape and stickers to form abstract plant shapes. Burnish each piece with your thumbnail to make certain it's stuck down really well. Paint the surface (I used acrylic) and remove the stickers.

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

so innovative...love it

Meg said...

oh, this could be a fun project for my kids this summer!

Alice Becomes said...

I love it, so creative, so simple, so clever!

Nic xo

hello. said...

what a perfect project for my daughter to do for the wall in her room :)

Anonymous said...

i love this idea! so simple but a perfect idea.

Grandma G said...

Gee, even I could do this! :)

Mum

Mika said...

Very clever! It even looks cute before you painted it! What a fun project to do too.

Marisa said...

Fun! Great for the kids, too.

Shortney said...

THANK YOU! I see this and I'm like DUH, why didn't I think of that? But finally...something I can do and most likely have it turn out like expected. This is fool proof :) Now I can pull the colors of my room in a painting on my own.

Sylvie Créative - Créations Ma Déco Maison said...

I love it!

Evelin said...

Love this idea! It's awesome! :D

Christa said...

I love this idea, so simple, but there's so much you could do with it!

She's craftily... said...

That's an awesome idea! So simple, yet so effective!

tinajo said...

Very nice and stylish - love it! :-)

Unknown said...

Very cute! I love your ideas, I'm always checking back to see new tutorials. We featured your idea on our blog :)

http://mfta.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/diy-using-office-supplies/

Rachel said...

I love this. Must do!!!

Jane said...

I actually have some small canvases left over from a previous project. What a creative way to use up supplies that are sitting around the house!! Thanks for sharing.

Elisa said...

Thanks for reminding us how EASY it is to be creative - just take a look around! :)

Mandy Ford Art & Illustration said...

Love this!!

Bea said...

Very nice. It's so simple.

Kelly said...

That's so creative! I always love your ideas!

iam4orange said...

hey how about that other canvas in the photo, the one with the bike, that doesn't look half as easy??

Anonymous said...

I'd like to know about the bike print, too. Is it clip art?

cossexpress said...

Good, I like this idea. It is so simple but interesting.

able mabel said...

Cool!

Angie said...

Thanks for the great idea for the diy art! Can you share where the bike photo is from? Also love that:)

zoom yummy said...

That's such a cute idea! I love it! :) Petra

Jessica Jones said...

To the folks asking about the bike... it was a stock image I got somewhere and then traced with a sharpie onto a 10x13 piece of paper—my printer won't print that large. I can't remember where I found the image, though, sorry!

Alisha said...

Thank you so much. This is something I can do and have fun doing!

whyducks said...

Brilliant idea thanks!

Lana's Cards and Crafts said...

Love it! Here's my attempt at this project http://lanascardsandcrafts.blogspot.com/2011/09/craft-project-3-painted-wall-art.html
There was a little on the edges but apart from that I like how they turned out. Thanks for the inspiration!

wall art said...

I love it,Thanks for the share.With these I can also recycle some papers and cut outs letters and images to make some crafty works.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the inspiration! I made two pieces based on your pics and tutorial that I am just madly in love with. It's the first time I've ever made art that I actually enjoy enough to hang on the wall of my living room!

http://threeblindwives.com/2012/08/14/tape-art/

I love your site!

~Daniél

Jessica Jones said...

Great work, Daniél!

Rod said...

I like it. Very creative and neat. Thanks for sharing.

Sam said...

I like your blog and the art work. Keep it up.

Dotty said...

Nice work Jessica. I love your blog and the photos. Thanks for sharing.