I Heart Ikea "Clips" Frames!

I have been collecting postcards for years; I took an art theory and criticism class during college from the amazing Wayne Thiebaud who told us all that postcards were essential in life. They're small, portable, beautifully photographed and inexpensive. Of course, this was about twelve years ago before the internet had scanned absolutely every image on earth and propagated it to the masses. Back then, we art students needed to collect postcards to remember things...

I collect postcards for all of the reasons that the great master Thiebaud stated above, but also because I love them as objects. They're small, durable, and document specific things from specific times. In fact, I have a major weakness for old postcards in particular. Vintage cards can still be used if blank, but if already written they tell a unique story about someone's life at one point in time. They're a great starting point for fiction writing too...

But what good is collecting all of these cards when you can't show them off to people? Well, here is where the simple and wonderful Ikea "Clips" frames come in handy. You've probably seen these before - they're down in the marketplace area in a big bin in every Ikea in the world. They come in packs of four - a little stack of cardboard and a little stack of glass panels, shrink-wrapped and costing about $1.50. Yes, they're cheap as chips and they are the easiest way to transform spaces big and small.

I've been framing my vintage postcards in Ikea Clips frames for a long time now, but I really got going on it when I moved to my current apartment... The frames are just about 4" x 6" so they're ideal for postcards - especially vintage ones which generally run a bit smaller than those of today.

In the bathroom, I have a set of six vintage Waikiki Beach postcards framed and hanging on the wall next to my medicine cabinet. I love these postcards - you can tell how old each one is by the swimwear on the beach as well as how many hotels are on the beach. In one of them there's only the Sheraton Moana Surfrider which is one of the oldest, so I estimate the postcard may be from the late 1940s...

Just this group of six seems to give my mundane bathroom a transporting air direct from the islands. I get a nice glimpse of Diamondhead and it just makes my heart happy a little bit. Clips frames are ideal for a simply rhythm like this - repeating the same image in a different way.

Another set of framed postcards are tucked into a rather short wall in my hallway, featuring late 19th Century postcards from Paris. You can tell how old they are because of where the stamp is - before the early 20th Century (about 1908 in the United States) it was forbidden to have anything other than the mailing address on the blank side of the postcard. Because of this rule, you'll see one or two handwritten lines on the image, as well as the stamp - yes, on the image.

I had gathered some of these over the years, but most of them I got about ten years ago when I was visiting my sister in Paris one summer. I convinced her to go to the flea market and when I found the postcard stand I just wanted to stay all day! Sadly, my sister was not quite as enchanted at this prospect, so we soon parted, leaving so many delicious postcards behind...

But these are still so precious and especially cool all grouped together like this! The thing about these small frames is that they're perfectly suited for grouping in a grid like this. It does take some careful measuring, but it's easy to do with a little patience.

My latest group of clips frames I mentioned in my previous post - they are now on the wall of my bedroom next to Frank the fiddle leaf fig. I read somewhere that its good Feng Shui to have red on the south wall of your house. I love red, and since I need all the good spirits I can get, I decided to make something for the space.

I probably spent less than $10 on these frames from Ikea, but the art is totally unique and homemade. I began by going through my postcard collection and separating out the ones that had mostly red colors. Some I kept whole, but others I cut up and collaged with wrapping, craft, and origami paper that I had in my craft bins. i even found an old Loteria set and used some of the colorful and symbolic cards. Then, it was just a matter of arranging them to their best effect.

So really, it's 20 little works of art creating a bigger, cooler work of art all together.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the result. The red brings a bright pop of passion to my back room, I used images I already love, and I maximized on some of my favorite little cheap things: Clips frames. Go get some!

Comments

[tanya]

cheap and adorable--my two favorite things! Thanks for sharing, next time I go to Ikea, I'll keep an eye out for them.

[Marsvenus]

Girl,

You need to come into my store! You can go nuts for less than $50!

Your place looks so nice and comfortable! You are very lucky to live in such a beautiful place.

I still live with my family, and my brother Organalo just tortures me. He bought me a hampster the other day and let it loose in my room! I saw that thing and just went to skreeking! I've been looking for that thing for 2 days... I know it's going to show up in my favorite pair of shoes...

I told my mom all about it, but she was busy out on the porch drinking a 40 (or 2) and couldn't be bothered.

Anyway, hugs to you! Good for you keep yourself busy while your are not working.

Marsvenus

[Ms. P&C]

Marsvenus - that is the A-number 1 best comment I've ever had on this blog. You are too much! I love it.

I too would have trouble sleeping in a room where a hamster was running loose...does your Mom prefer Mickey's or King Cobra? I'm a Mickey's girl myself...Irish Catholic, etc...

Thanks so much for stopping in! ;-)

[Sun]

Hi Annie, I bought some of the ikea clips frames the other day to decorate my bathroom! I love your collages and the red theme. could you shed some light on how you were able to mount the ikea clips frames to your walls? the clips themselves don't seem very stable when they're clipped onto the glass/cardboard, so I'm hesitant to hang anything off the clips themselves.

Thanks!