Cricut Home Decor

I have this fireplace and TV cutout in my family room that I really hate decorating...is anyone good at decorating these things? I never know what looks good because this cut out is so deep. I want it to look decorated but not filled with "stuff". One of the first things I try to come up with is the main wall decor. Once I figure out what I am going to hang there, I try to fill the rest in. I originally had an orange and cream color scheme. I had fabric wrapped around canvas hanging on the wall in a set of three. Then I changed the whole look at Christmas and had family silhouettes framed on the wall using holiday colored paper and white frames. After the holidays I felt like changing the family room color scheme. My couch is brown, the walls are tan, and the fireplace wall is an accent shade of brown. I wanted to add a little more color using softer blues, greens, and cream. I looked for pictures that would work for the cut out wall and found some I liked at Target. Unfortunately I can't find the product anymore so I have no picture to link up. At the time I think they were $30 each but I was trying to redecorate with items I had on hand, so I set to work scavenging around my home and here is what I created.

I found these frames in a stash of frames in our basement. They were originally maroon. I spray painted them a metallic bronze using spray paint I had left over from a lamp remodel. I then wanted the three main colors in the decor to be used so I created each frame insert with two solid sheets of card stock for the background (blue, cream, and brown) and used two more sheets of an alternating color (either blue, cream, or brown) to create the pattern on top. The pattern is from the Cindy Loo cartridge on the Cricut machine. Once it was done cutting, I lined up the sheets of paper to create one long image, taped it to the top of the card stock background and topped it with the mat and glass that each frame already had.

So in the end this project was FREE...I had all the supplies on hand. From there I dug around the house to see what else would fit in with this color scheme.

 I took 5 old books from a shelf and covered them in coordinating sheets of card stock. I placed these between two Restoration Hardware book ends that I purchased for a steal when our local store went out of business. Then I grabbed a blue photo shoebox I had and placed the large H on top of it for some height. The letter was cardboard from Joanns and I spray painted it with the same bronze metallic spray paint. I think the letter was a couple bucks with sales or coupons. I had an apothecary jar in my crafting stash from Marshalls and filled it with a combination of a decorative "mix" type product you can also buy at Marshalls and yarn balls in coordinating colors. I took styrofoam balls of various sizes and wrapped them in yarn. On the other side of the mantel I have changed this out a few different times but right now it is 3 vases that we already owned and some fake grass from Joanns. I had all of these things on hand except for the letter H so spending a couple dollars on a completely new mantel design was just the thing I was looking to do. I add and change things with the holidays and seasons but in general this is the base design I have going for now...maybe in a future house I won't have to mess with these cutouts- as they are so difficult for me to decorate!

Shannon