Friday, January 9, 2009

Styrofoam Wall Art


Here are a couple of pieces of artwork that I made for my office space. I thought they were kinda cool and pretty easy to make. Here is what you need:


1 sheet of Styrofoam 24 inches in length and 12 inches in width and 1 inch in depth. If you can't find one that size you can cut it down to fit.


2 sheets of 12 x 12 inch scrapbook paper (the sky is the limit when it comes to your motif, so go wild)


96 inches of 1 inch wide black (or whatever color coordinates with your papers) grosgrain ribbon


Styrofoam glue (can be found at Michaels) or any other super tacky glue.


1 super sharp box cutter and cutting mat or electric knife


First you want to cut down the Styrofoam so you have two 12 x 12 square pieces. I used a sharp box cutter for this, but you want to make sure that you really get a straight edge when you cut it. Mine is pretty lumpy bumpy. An electric knife is great for cutting this, just be careful.


Next you want to put a good amount of glue on the back side of the scrapbooking paper.


Make sure it is lined up neatly with all four corners of the Styrofoam, and adhere it. I would highly recommend using a heavy book to set on top of the piece while it dries. It helps it adhere well and keeps the bubbles out. I purchased the Styrofoam glue at Michaels and was not very impressed at first. Styrofoam is so porous that it is really difficult to get the glue to work properly. I did let mine sit for 24 hours and it did adhere after all.


Finally, you are ready to attach your ribbon. Each piece is going to use 48 inches. Embarrassingly enough, I had a tough time figuring out how much ribbon I was going to need. And then I realized, "Duh, the piece is 12 inches square. Do the math, dummy." It was not one of my better moments. So you want to attach the ribbon to each side using the glue. Again, this can get pretty tedious because that darn Styrofoam just doesn't want to attach, but, have some patience and let the glue set awhile. I promise, it will work.


So there you have it. Two pieces of simple art for your wall. I placed a small finish nail in the wall to hang them and slid the Styrofoam right onto it. Very inexpensive art and so cool that you have infinite paper possibilities. The papers today are so nice and artsy looking, they really make a great statement!

3 comments:

Heather said...

I have heard of these before! I think they are great- maybe I will get around to doing some, but for now I have a torn up couch in my living room and I gotta get fabric back on it before I can do anything else!

Shan B. said...

Yet another awesome creation!! Sounds easy enough. I will have to remember when it's time to redecorate the boys' rooms.

Shan B. said...

Hey Deb, I will keep you in the loop when I sign up for my 5k's. I love to do them. My best time was 45:45. I'm hoping to totally improve & jog the whole time on one of them. Hopefully this training will help but it's hard to breath at the end cuz it's sooo stinkin cold in the mornings. Keep it goin girl!!