Whether made by a professional artisan or by your children in school, arts and crafts can make a room stand out. Crafts run the gamut from designs painted on a wall to hand-sewn pillows, from hand-thrown pottery pieces to carefully constructed wall art. Choose to make and decorate with crafts that give your room a modern edge or stick with folksy crafts that give your room a down-home, Americana feel.
Decorate Walls
Step 1
Cut a piece of card stock so that it fits into a frame, glue a leaf to the card stock with white glue, and allow it to dry for half an hour before placing the card stock in the frame and hanging it on the wall. Frame several leaves of different sizes, and hang them in an interesting pattern on your wall.
Step 2
Cut strips and shapes of boldly colored or printed fabric, and glue them to card stock in place of the leaves for a more vibrant and modern touch. Let them dry, frame them, then hang them on your wall.
Step 3
Tape a stencil to your wall and apply paint with a brush in the cutouts. Paint a border around the room in this way, either along the top of the wall or in the center, or simply stencil in one area, in place of a painting or other wall art.
Step 4
Paint square or rectangular pieces of foam with spray paint or acrylic paint, and allow to dry overnight. Or separate and paint embroidery hoops. Once dry, arrange the shapes in a visually interesting pattern on the floor, then attach them to the wall with tape or sticky tack in that pattern.
Decorative Accents
Step 1
Cut a piece of fabric slightly larger than a switch plate or an electrical outlet cover, and cut the holes for the light switch or outlets. Brush a coat of decoupage glue on the cover, then smooth the cut fabric over the glue, tucking the ends underneath. Let dry overnight, then screw the switch plate in place over the light switch.
Step 2
Cut two lengths of ribbon, one that fits around the top of a lampshade and one that fits around the bottom. Dab decoupage glue on the underside of the ribbon, then carefully place it on the shade. Let dry, then put the shade on the lamp.
Step 3
Cut a piece of fusible adhesive to the size of a cork trivet. Peel off the backing on one side of the adhesive, and iron it to the cork. Cut a piece of fabric to the size of the top of the trivet. Peel the backing off the top of the adhesive, and iron the fabric to it to make a colorful bulletin board.
