Have you ever looked around your apartment, full of beautiful DIY projects and awesome handmade decor, and realized that you’ve mostly stuck to the crafting classics? Maybe you have a lot of inspirational quotes, pretty designs that coordinate with your furniture, or things that you might describe as “lovely” but that don’t have a lot of attitude? This happened to us recently, so we dove into the depths of the Internet head first to try and find ourselves some art and decor projects that have a little more edge.
Check out this list of 15 awesome DIY ideas that will make sure your visitors to your home will know that, despite having a sweet side, you can get a little sassy too!
1. “Thug Life” vintage plate
We love the irony in this piece. Normally, when you see vintage style floral plates hanging on the wall or resting against the sideboard, they don’t bear contemporary rap slogans! Welcome to Projectville is here to show you how to write just about anything you want on your old thrift shop plates. Borrow this quote or choose another one that speaks to your sassy side!
2. Lipstick kisses framed art
Do you adore wearing bright lipstick for a fun night out? We do too, and we’re always amused by the sort of vintage Hollywood glamour we’re reminded of when our lipstick prints on our cups or napkins. Heavy Threads suggests turning those lipstick prints into art with attitude! Grab some card stock, pick your favourite shades of lipstick, and get smooching! Once you’ve got the “print” ready, choose an awesome old picture frame. We love this gold one that looks like a stellar thrift shop find!
3. Silhouette song lyrics canvas
Maybe your favourite way to express your sassy side is by singing along to your favourite songs? Well, Craft hubs is here to show you how even that can be incorporated into your decor! Choose some lyrics that speak to you and follow their guide for creating these canvas silhouette letters that let some colour and pattern pop from behind the misty painted surface with each word.
4. DIY scratched CD art
Do you love upcycling old things that you know you won’t use anymore, rather than throwing them out? Are you a huge fan of the way unused technology looks when it’s turned into art? Well, old CDs and DVDs are an awesome way to get that same look in your home very easily! Orange Cloud suggests painting the entire disc black with regular acrylic paint and then using something small and sharp, like a pin or a sewing needle, to carefully scratch the paint off however you please. Try creating a sketched scene or etching the words to a favourite song or saying into the surface.
5. Framed jewel toned yarn
Maybe your usual craft of choice is knitting rather than decor pieces? Well, you can definitely combine the two for the ultimate crafting experience! This framed wall art by Endlessly Erin is the perfect way to add some colour and texture to your walls for a bit more edge in your decor scheme, and also actually quite useful because it’ll use up those awkward spare yarn ends you’ve been piling up for months!
6. Negative stencil cafe print
Did you love the idea of the silhouette letters we talked about above, but the white, whimsical look of the finished product doesn’t quite match the level of sass in the quote or song lyrics you’ve chosen? All is not lost! Savvy and Sasy shows you how to create the same concept but with a darker, more textured and weathered look that gives the whole project a little more edge.
7. Hand painted palette sign with lights
Maybe the type of “sass” you’re looking for isn’t just in the words you choose or what aesthetic of the craft, but rather in the construction of the project itself? If you ask us, it shows resourcefulness and a whole lot of attitude to make something like an unused wooden palette into an art display that actually serves a practical function too by lighting up the room. Check out this reclaimed moon and stars idea that we found on Pinterest!
8. Magnetic household scrabble
Maybe you’d rather concentrate a little less on “sass” and a little more on novelty? We think this DIY scrabble board idea from Twice Remembered is the perfect way to combine the two! Find metal sheeting that fits in the back of a big, old picture frame and cover it in pages from abandoned dictionaries, decoupage style. Glue little magnets to the back of a full set of Scrabble tiles and stick the letters all over the board. Share an ongoing game of Scrabble with your roommates as you come and go or leave each other messages!
9. Blown up Instagram pictures
Are you a huge Instagram fan who just loves posting photos of a particular style or aesthetic? We’d be willing to bed that your profile looks gorgeous (and we’d probably follow you), but we’d also like to show you how easy it is to let that same aesthetic spill over into your home decor! Check out how Dot Coms for Moms took their favourite Instagram pictures and blew them up into contemporary wall art. You could use your own or borrow from the coolest accounts you follow (but remember to credit other people for their material on the back of your art)!
10. Kitschy garland strings
Are you in love with all things kitsch and camp? Do you prefer it when decor has a mixed and matched, obviously handmade feel to it? That’s one of our favourite crafting styles too! If you’re looking for a simple craft that just adds a quick pop of colour and texture to a boring blank wall, try making your own versions of these kitschy garland strings from A beautiful Mess!
11. Pants hanger posters
Do you have an awesome collection of sassy posters that you’ve been dying to hang up, but that you just can’t bear to hang up with tacks or tape for fear of ruining the corners? Hello Fleur is here to save the day! Keep the posters neat and undamaged, and also create an awesomely unique display, by pinching the top edge of the poster into a clipping pants hanger and hooking the hanger to a tack or nail in the wall!
12. Frame yarn scrap balls
Do you love the idea of adding some colour and attitude to your decor using your spare knitting supplies, but the framed yarn lengths didn’t quite catch your full attention? Never fear, Mama Chee is here! Pick up a deep shadow box from your local crafting store and gather all of the little spare yarn ends you know are too short to knit into anything else. Wind them into little balls and arrange them inside the shadow box in whatever pattern or colour scheme you choose!
13. Polaroid wall clock
Perhaps your idea of “sass” and “attitude” has a vintage edge to it? Our favourite way to make things look stylishly aged is to incorporate Polaroid pictures, or digital pictures printed in a Polaroid style. Photo Jojo suggests using those pictures in a way that is decorative indeed, but that’s also useful! Choose 12 prints, arrange them like a clock, and hang a modern looking, numberless clocking face or a set of plain clock hands in the centre. On each hour, the hands will remind you of a favourite place, person, or memory but point to the pictures.
14. Jewel case photo collage
Do you have piles of old CDs that you no longer listen to, that are damaged, or that you’ve stored in a zipping sleeve case, leaving you with empty plastic jewel cases lying around? Well, you might as well make them useful for art if you can, and according to Makezine, you definitely can! Choose a series of printed photos (we love this twinkling night time lights idea) and print them in the same dimensions as a CD booklet so they’ll slide right into the front of the jewel cases. Arrange the cases like a collage on the wall and voila!
15. Binder clipped moving light photos
Have you always loved playing with light and colours in digital photography? We’ve definitely had our fun swinging our cameras around and creating interesting visual swirls in the pictures. Why not make that part of your decor to give things a bit of an abstract feel? Try printing the photos and hanging the pages on the wall using mini binder clips, just like Twinkle and Twine did here. The simple display will let the swirls in the pictures shine through.
Time to move away from the mundane and decorate your home with art that says YOU!
