Alter a Cardboard Picture
Turn the Picture That Comes With the Picture Frame Into Art.
How many times have you gone to a discount store and saw those cardboard pictures in plastic picture frames? They are are a great mixed-media art opportunities!
This altered-art project will require a bit of a field trip before beginning. We have all seen those cardboard pictures in discount stores, at tag sales, and in thrift stores. We have even seen them in our grandmother’s attics and in our own basements! Find one or two of these pictures and head into your work area.
For this mixed-media altered art project, you will need the following materials:
- Cardboard picture, out of its frame if possible
- Decoupage or gel medium
- Paintbrushes, a variety of sizes
- Acrylic paint, a variety of colors
- Small containers of water
- Shakers of glitter, a variety of colors
- Seed beads, a variety of colors
- Tweezers
- Decorative paper; any theme you choose
Follow these instructions to complete this mixed media altered art project:
- In the large areas of the painting, add some acrylic paint and layers of decorative paper. The paint and papers can match the theme of the cardboard picture, or it can be completely different. Let your imagination take over. Create interesting layers and color movement. This will serve as the backdrop of the piece. Before the paint dries, shake on some glitter.
- Embellish the main area of the painting (for example, if you chose a picture of a flower this would be the flower) with small torn pieces of the decorative paper. Brush on a light layer of decoupage or gel medium over the torn pieces and then shake on some glitter.
- Using a fine-tipped paintbrush, brush on some decoupage or gel medium on to a small detail of the picture. Using the tweezers, add seed beads to the detail. Repeat this until all the small details of the picture has been beaded up. You may need to touch up areas from time to time if beads fall off while working.
- Allow the piece to dry completely. Check on it frequently for loose beads and touch up wherever necessary. Speed up the drying time through use of a heat gun or a hair dryer.
- Seal over the entire piece with a couple of coats of decoupage or gel medium. This will give the piece a unified sheen, as well as seal in the glitter, the beads, and the edges of the papers embellishments.
Ideas for taking this a bit further:
- Add found objects
- Embellish with game pieces, charms, or other pieces of ephemera
- Gesso over the entire cardboard picture and create a completely clean canvas
- Use fun fibers as an embellishment
- Hammer in upholstery tacks along the boarder
- Use sequins instead of beads
As you can see, there are a lot of opportunities for turning these cardboard pictures into a completely different work of art. In some cases, it will be the same picture with interesting embellishments. And, in other cases, the cardboard picture will not be recognizable at all when the artist is finished. There are no rules, so have fun with this!
