DIY Calendar Page Art

I recently acquired an expired (ooh, that rhymes!) calendar from a friend (Thanks Hannah A.!).  It was one of those fancy Cavallini & Co. calendars with an enormous, beautiful botanical print for every month of the year!  This one was Flora and Fauna 2010, which features compositions of antique bird, botanical, and butterfly prints, as well as 18th- and 19th-century ephemera (which is what all the French script and postmarks are about, I guess!).  Suffice to say, it was right down my alley decor-wise. 

 

So, after procuring the calendar, I got right down to business, selecting prints for my walls as well as some for my Mama, too.  We framed May’s pink flower and butterflies for her guest room and April’s cutie bird and branch for her master bathroom.  Then I took October’s fern frond and trimmed it to fit a thrift store frame.  Unfortunately for me, I was so excited to find a frame that was close to the right size, I neglected to notice that what I thought was a mat was only a white border on the cheap print within.  Sad.  So, this one is framed, but less fancily.  (Huh, fancily really is a word according to spell check?!)  I hung it in my sewing corner in the den.  The blue tones in the print coordinate perfectly with the wall color.  :)

I think this one might get a 1” mat down the road.  Just for that symmetry that I love so much.  :) Lastly, I took January and November, both pastel butterfly prints, and framed them in a couple of 11x14 frames matted to 8x10.  The prints are originally about 9x13, but they just don’t make frames matted to that size.  Of course.  So, I had to select my favorite part of these prints to show within the 8x10 cutout.  Here is what I decided on after much deliberation:

These frames are from Walmart’s Better Homes & Gardens collection.  They have a small bevel trim on the edge of the mat that matches the frame, which I love.  Yeah, BHG!  These are my new guest room art, which I hung over the bed to replace the DIY botanical prints I made last year, way back when the guest room was just a work in progress.  Here it is now, with the new prints on the wall:

I love how the butterfly on the left has a shot of turquoise in him which ties in perfectly with the turquoise cushion and pillow in the room.  Hooray happy accidents! 

So, five works of art later and I haven’t even used half of my calendar pages.  I still have February, March, June, July, August, September and December left.  If you see one remaining that you’d like to frame, let me know and I’ll send it to you!

Now, I just have to decide where to put the old botanical prints that I’ve replaced.  Perhaps the laundry room could use some new art, since I’m always stealing things from in there.  Like those flowers on the bedside table.  hehe :)