DIY Ombré Paintchip Art

Lu has a beautiful gray and yellow (gender-neutral) nursery that is slowly being brightened and personalized with pops of pink.  I wanted to make some pink artwork and thought I'd take inspiration from two of the biggest trends on Pinterest right now: paint chip art and ombré.

The best part about making art with paint chips is that it is FREE.  Does it get any better?? 

So here is the ridiculously easy tutorial...

You will need:

Frame 

Ruler

Pen

Glue

Scissors

Paint chips (5 multi-color sample cards for 8x10 image)

I started with 5 different shades of pink cards from Home Depot- I grabbed the Behr samples because they have 4 gradient colors on each card making ombré art even more of a no-brainier.  You could really use any brand and size.  Use a straight-edge to cut off the color names.  

Cut each color apart eliminating the white space between.  Sort into piles...

Now just shuffle them around until you find a light-to-dark mix you like... I ultimately mixed up the different pink hues, but you could keep them together for a more cohesive look. 

If you are using a frame with a mat, trace the inside of the mat onto the frame paper backing.  Begin gluing the paint chips in place on the paper starting with the top row, overlapping the outline slightly (to be sure you only see color- not paper- once you put the mat on top).

Continue gluing chips in place overlapping as much (or as little) as you like.  This is what it looks like before you put the mat on top and place it in the frame... If you are not using a matted frame, fill the entire paper backing and cut off the overlapping bits.

I liked the textured look of the overlapping paper, but if you want it to look like one slick piece you could add a coat of Mod Podge on top.  

I also spray painted an old black wooden frame to match the nursery (Krylon gloss Pewter Gray).  I stopped after one coat because I liked the bit of wood grain showing.  

Here is the finished product hanging next to Lu's bookshelf.  The perfect pop of pink!

Total cost (reusing an old frame and spray paint from another project): $0  Love it so much I may need to make one for another room... :)

There are so many possibilities here... change up the color-combo, personalize with a monogram or house number, big kids could make their own!  Can you find a way to use this idea in your own home??