Tribute to: Cardboard! (Faux wrought iron wall decor)

I have always loved the look of wrought iron. The romantic curly lines and the mesmerizing symmetry of the patterns drives me crazy! I wanted to see if I could create the look of wrought iron with stuff I had around my home, and did I ever! 

This is my tribute to cardboard, one of the most versatile materials ever!  Ok, so this is the part you guess exactly what kind of cardboard materials I used for this project.

*Jeopardy theme playing. . . .DUM, Dah, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh!

Times up! did you guess?

TOILET PAPER ROLLS!!!

That's right! I had stockpiled a buttload of these suckers. I thought it would've taken forever because I live in a house with 5 males but NO, it came and would NOT stop coming!! (It still hasn't stopped if you're wondering)

Now all those years of feeling bad about throwing the tp rolls away finally makes sense! I just knew they could be useful in some way.

Here's how I did my faux wrought iron wall decor. . .

Materials: Wooden frame (you could either make your own with wood or buy one, the project can be done with rectangle frames but I recommend using square frames if you can find any), tp rolls, ruler, scissors and tacky glue (I used a hot glue gun but recommend using tacky glue because it doesn't glop up and make "spider webs" of glue all over the place.)

1. I bought a frame from the dollar store. They have 11x14's for sale now! I removed the glass and the cardboard backing. Don't throw either one away, you can always use the glass for another project. The backing will be used for this project.

2. Cut a tp roll "open" on one side.

3. Using a ruler, measure and mark with dots. I made mine 1 cm apart.

4. Using the dots as guides, make your lines.

5. Cut along your lines.

6. Depending on how wide your measurements, 1 tp roll measured at 1cm should yield at least 10 strips.

7. This may be the hardest part. Using the cardboard backing of the frame, you will make a frame within the frame.

8. Curl the tp strips by winding it around a pencil. Place curlycues in a pattern in the frame. When you like what you see, glue it in. I know these last 2 steps are really confusing so I will attempt to illustrate to you to avoid any confusion.

 After you glue all the strips in patterns in the frame, you are almost done!

9. Take a big breath. . . .get something to drink. . .better yet, go get some yummy apple pie and put a big scoop of vanilla ice-cream on it. Mmmmm, now don't you feel better? K, next step.

10. Using your black spray paint, spray your wall hanging at different angles. (I've found that you don't need to cover the cardboard with a thick coat of paint because seeing even just a little bit of brown makes it look even more like wrought iron.)

Hang and enjoy your art!

How much did it cost me to make my own wrought iron wall decor?

Frame=$1

TP Rolls=FREE

Faux Wrought Iron Wall Decor=$1

How you like them apples!

Brandi-Lee