I am quite fond of color, and have always loved paint swatches. I don’t throw them away, and I have been known to frame them on more than one occasion. In the restaurant I used to own with my husband, we had a big black frame with a grid of paint chips hanging on the wall. {I am also a big fan of grids}. It was super-cool.
I thought there might be some other fun things to do with these little free squares of colored happiness, so I decided to investigate, and voila! Now, today is the first time I actually gathered paint chips FOR a project {the heart garland in the photo for my daughters’ room} I usually just have them laying around. The guy at Lowes looked at me kind of funny while I was swiping them.
Anyway, I am sure there are a million other ideas out there, but here are a few that caught my eye, with tutorials if I could find them…
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From the top: 1. A visual diary from paint swatches (too cool not to include). 2. Wall art 3. Business card holders :http://www.designverb.com/2006/11/12/paint-chip-card-holder/ 4. Gift tags 5. Paint chip notebooks: http://whimsy-girl.blogspot.com/2008/10/paint-sample-notebook-tutorial.html 6. Heart garland 7. Paint chip orbs: http://www.readymade.com/projects/i_made_this_paint_chip_orbs 8. Rolodex Dividers: http://inmyownstyle.com/2010/06/in-artful-order.html 9. Paint chip mobile.
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12 comments
Love the typewriter/guest book idea.
I want a vintage type writer, have for a long time now. This is a nice design site.
D
I too was unable to open any of the links. Could you please direct me as to another way to open them. Thanks. Love your ideas!
Love all your ideas!
Really cute ideas.
Oh and paint girl thank you for the info I would never have thought of it that way before.
huh. They used to, I wonder what happened.
I will try to fix
I love the ideas, but none of the links work.
I appreciate what you’re saying, and agree.
I have purchased enough paint in my lifetime to literally support the industry, and for this project I took very few. I have a gift bag full of swatches from past painting projects, and use them as needed. In fact, I recycle them for future paint projects.
I don’t mean to sound like a crab, but being in the paint industry I get somewhat frusterated when I see paint samples as craft projects. They are made of real paint, and are quite expensive to make. Although a lot of paint retailers get them as a “perk” from their suppliers, their price is ultimately figured into the cost of paint, which will eventually be passed all the way to the consumer. You wouldn’t go into McDonald’s to stock up on straws or napkins beyond what you needed for that visit. Please don’t go into paint/hardware stores and take paint swatches when you are planning on getting paint.
OMG! I <3 paint swatches!!!!! thanks for the ideas!!!!!
I found the punch at
http://www.amazon.com/McGill-Super-Giant-Heart-Paper/dp/B002R8OER8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1325443370&sr=8-2
Martha, You can looking at Michael’s Art http://www.michaels.com or Stamp Store.. kind of craft store. You can looking up in your hometown. I do not know where you lives. I lives in Seattle,WA. I have seen in JoAnne’s Fabric store, too.
I hope you find one!
Margaret
where can I get that oblong heart punch. ive been looking everywhere. Cant find one.