How To Make DIY 2D Color Block Paper Frames

*This post was sponsored by ASTROBRIGHTS®

Even though I’ve worked hard to simplify the decor of our home ever since the kick-off to the new year, I still love finding subtle ways to celebrate my love for color. More often than not, that usually comes to life through art.

Sure, art is one of the most subjective things a person could add to their personal space—it’s rare to find two people who gravitate toward the exact same pieces—but that’s one of the things I love most about curating an at-home gallery. Seeing what a person chooses to invest in (or create!) for their art collection is like having direct insight into their personal aesthetic. For example, someone who has a lot of graphic, primary-colored typography hanging in their home might tend toward modern furniture and accessories, whereas earth-toned landscape paintings could hint at a love for traditional design.

So, when ASTROBRIGHTS® Papers challenged me to come up with a DIY way to colorize our home, it wasn’t long before I decided that art was the way to go. Read on to find out how I added a hearty dose of new color to our home using paper and 2D visuals as my inspiration and foundation.

Here’s What You’ll Need

• Terrestrial Teal™ Paper
• Blast-Off Blue™ Paper
• Eclipse Black™ Paper
• Lunar Blue™ Paper
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Straight edge
• Tape (both standard and double-sided)

Step 1

Choose a coordinated selection of Astrobrights paper to work with. You’ll need four colors to recreate this project. I chose a range of blues (specific Astrobrights colors are linked in the supply list above!), plus a rich pure black.

STEP 2

Lay each sheet of paper flat on your work surface, and situate a straight edge diagonally across the paper so that it lines up with the corners. Trace a light line along the straight edge with a pencil, and then repeat across the opposite corners to create an “X.” Repeat this step across all four sheets of paper.

STEP 3

Cut along the traced lines from Step 2 using scissors. Set each of the cut pieces of paper off to the side in their pre-trimmed shape to make the next step a little easier.

STEP 4

Carefully rearrange the slices to create collections of multi-colored paper sheets. In other words, you should have pieces from the Terrestrial Teal paper, the Blast-Off Blue paper, Eclipse Black, and Lunar Blue paper represented in one newly formed full sheet.

Tape the four pieces of paper together on the back to form the finished 2D frame, and repeat the steps to create all four “frames.” Note that you’ll want to keep any visible pencil marks to the back side.

STEP 5

To finish, flip the 2D paper frames over and use double-sided tape to attach pretty magazine cuttings or printed photos to the front. I used pages pulled from my favorite issues of Kinfolk Magazine, but you could use anything from printed Instagram photos to inspiring quotes. Finally, hang the finished 2D-framed art on the wall using more double-sized tape or thumbtacks.

My favorite thing about this project (aside from the fact that it takes just 15 minutes to complete!) is that it can be customized to absolutely any color palette. If you’re a minimalist, try using shades of cream, white, gray, and black, or if you want to create an extra bold look, consider choosing vibrant neon pink, yellow, purple, and orange. Primary colors would be another fun direction to go in if you’re not afraid of color. For me, this cool and calming blue color collection felt just right.

Which Astrobrights papers would you choose to colorize your own home? Leave your votes in the comments below.