Redecorating on the Cheap: Printables

Yesterday I posted about how I spruced up my apartment for free. Today and tomorrow I'd like to post about how I added some pizzazz to my place by spending very little money. I was able to use some things I had around my house to keep it low-cost, but you may need to purchase some of these items to make it happen.

I have five 5x7 frames in my dining room from Ikea. They have floral prints (also from Ikea), and they've never really been my favorite. I just put them up because I already had them and didn't want to spend more money at the time. I went on Pinterest and searched for "free kitchen printables." I chose these ones, from Questionable Domestique.  They are legit, and not stolen! Holla! They are also super fun. I like that they're neutral, so they'd work in almost any kitchen/dining area (mine are connected, so the kitchen theme works in the dining room).

The prints are available in both 4x6 and 5x7. If you have a better printer than I do, you could print these at home and keep it even cheaper. I chose to upload them to the Biola print shop (where I did my wedding invites) to have them printed and cut.

Inspired by how great I think these will look, I started looking for seasonal printables as well. I already had an 8x10 black frame, so I searched for prints in that size. I collected ten different prints that I liked, and again had them printed at Biola. I put all ten in the frame so that I don't have to go searching for them when the time comes; I can just take the back off and rotate the correct one to the front. I found most of them on a site called Over the Big Moon in the printables section. I also searched her blog for various holidays. I searched Pinterest for the holidays I didn't see on this blog. Here are a few of my favorites:

I liked this for January because all the other one's talked about snow...doesn't really work for Southern California.

I used a 40% coupon from Michael's to get a picture frame stand for under $5. I set up my frame on the corner of my dining room table, and I think it will be really fun to have a rotation of prints all throughout the year.

These two changes really added a lot to my dining area. I find that buying wall art or decorations can be SO expensive, but with these blogs giving away prints, it really keeps things affordable. If you don't have a printer, you could also upload the jpg files to your local drugstore photo department, which would keep the cost low as well.

Have you used free printables before? There were also a lot of fun ones that could be used for party favors and decorations, so I will probably use them again in the future. Hurray for creative bloggers who are kind enough to give things away, right?

I am going to attempt a craft this weekend as part of my cheap decorating scheme. If it comes out, I will take pics and post about it. Wish me luck!