Framed Paper Art W/ Quilling

I was tired of having bare walls and even more tired of spending money I didn't have to make the spaces I spend all day in colorful and artsy. So, I decided to make my own wall art from affordable materials. This project is highly customizable and with a few changes, you can get a simplified version or a more advanced version. I made my frames a medium size (about 12x18), but you can change this to be even bigger for those walls with a lot of blank space. OR better yet, cut the time in half and make a small-scale version for a small space. This project took me about 3 hours to make. With just a few supplies, you can have the same results in around the same amount of time. What I love even more is that this project can be more than just a small project for the home; for example:

1. This is a great project for middle school and high school students. It requires some patience and skill, but it is also upgradable to make the project age-appropriate.

2. This can be a calming project if you are a fan of paper weaving. Play some music and take your time creating something beautiful.

3. This project is good practice for people who seem to always do things sloppily and want to improve! This project is easy enough that you can get quality results with just a little bit of patience. It's also really easy to fix any small mistakes that are made along the way.

4. With a project like this, I imagine there are always more ways to use it. Leave a comment if you make it and tell us what you used it for!

• Quilling Paper (or cut long strips of paper)
• Hot Glue (3-5 Sticks)(or any glue of choice)*
• Scrapbook Paper (or cardstock)
• Popsicle Sticks (Regular Size)
• Optional: Ruler

*If you use an alternative glue I recommend a thicker wet glue or a glue stick

Take a look at the supply list above if you haven't already. Everything listed here is what you'll need. I don't have scissors in the picture, but you'll need a good pair to help you with this project.

You can make your frame any size you want. I am doing 3 sticks by 4 sticks, but I would recommend doing as many as 4 by 4 with these instructions. Any more than that and you will need additional reinforcement sticks on the back.

Once you get your base laid out you can start gluing one stick between two sticks that meet side-by-side. This method will only be used to connects sticks that are on the same side. Once all four sides have been glued individually you can glue the edges/corners together.

The edges/corners will be connected by two smaller pieces. One piece will equal about 1/3 of a stick and one piece will equal about 2/3 of a stick. I suggest putting one drop of glue on the end of each stick and placing it on your frame. Do this twice for every side until it looks like the image above.

*If you are making a 1 by 1 frame you can skip right to completing the edges/corners and because it is so small you can simply use 1/2 of a stick on each corner.

With the base frame completed, we can flip the whole piece over and begin to add our strips of quilling paper. Select your colors and start adding ad gluing strips in one direction. Be sure to leave space for your quilling scrapbook paper piece or this will end up covering some of the strips you put down.

Once you decide where you want your scrapbook piece to go, put down two strips side by side to support this image later. If you are planning on adding a lot of quilling to your scrapbook paper piece be sure to put down three quilling paper strips side by side.

As you can see in the image, I left an open space for my sheet of scrapbook paper. Do not glue this down yet! It is simply a dry fit.

For the opposite end, I had to first extend the strips to make them about 2 inches longer. If your strips are long enough you can skip this part.

I then glued down strips on one side of the frame. It will save you time if you glue all of your pieces down on one side first.

Now that your pieces are in place on one side of the frame, weave them through to the other side.

Glue all of your pieces down once weaved through. Once glued take a moment to cut the pieces hanging over if you haven't done so already.

Again, the paper in this image is a dry fit. Do not glue it down yet!

I made started dry fitting my scrapbook paper piece early on in the project. If you didn't do that you can take a moment to do so now. If you want to make room for it, simply trim a few pieces around where you want your piece to go and glue the trimmed ends down on a perpendicular strip. Just be sure to leave a cross-section for your scrapbook paper piece to sit on when completed.

Now that you've got a place for your scrapbook paper, flip the frame over.

In the cross-section with the side-by-side strips, we are going to add popsicle sticks. I took 2 whole sticks and glued them in one direction. Then cut 2 sticks in half and glue those down in the opposite direction. Refer to the image above for an example.

*If you are using a smaller or larger image you may need more or less supports for the paper. Also, if you use more or less quilling than I did this may make your paper lighter or heavier - resulting in more or fewer supports being needed.

Now we can add our quilling paper to the scrapbook paper. This is where you can get really creative and make the project more or less complicated. I know you are supposed to use liquid glue, but I used hot glue instead.

If you type in "quilling" on google images or Instructables you can find some really cool examples of things you can do to make your project stand out.

Here are some color themes and quilling options for inspiration:

1. Black and yellow // Quilled Bee (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bb/d9/91/bbd991c2ef025cb7ba9e9b2c79288986.jpg)
2. All colors // Quilled Rainbow (https://i.pinimg.com/736x/51/1d/a0/511da0c84c1c8b740e4ce92deaa5a958.jpg)
3. Light Brown to Green to Red to Yellow to Dark Brown to Light Brown // Quilled Burger (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/29/a0/8d/29a08da823428dac273716e724f76667.jpg)
4. Pink and Red // Quilled Heart (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/cd/0e/9a/cd0e9aebc1aa411783b0e6f70481e660.jpg)
5. Black and White // Quilled Panda (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fd/d3/81/fdd3814d0d3a9ef066d59649397c2683.jpg)
6. Any other ideas? Let us know in the comments!

If you really want a challenge I suggest trying Jamsuda's Paper Quilling Succulent Garden with light green and hints of red and purple. (https://www.instructables.com/Paper-Quilling-Succulent-Garden/)

Once your quilling is out of the way, glue down your scrapbook paper with quilling to the front side of the supports. If you find your supports aren't enough, you can always add more later, you will just need to be careful to not crush your quilling.

To make the edges look a little more presentable, take some more sticks and glue them to the front edges. Make sure you get the straightest sticks you can and try to line them up with the sticks behind them.

You're officially done!

If you want to add more supports you can do this now.

You can also add something to hang your art from the wall with. I simply took 1 whole stick and about an inch on both ends of another stick to create this. To put it together, gue down the two small pieces to the middle of the top of your painting. Then, glue the whole piece onto two small pieces. These sticks should line up perfectly and leave a large gap in the middle for a screw or tac to rest on.