DIY Home Decor Projects Top 20

Ballard Knock off—$4 Newspaper Dress Art

Updated on 42 Comments on Ballard Knock off—$4 Newspaper Dress Art

 So when I saw this in the latest Ballard Design Catalog….

Theirs….$299 (OUCH!!!)
I fell a lil bit in LUURRRRVVVVEEEE…reminds me of Lassie…and how Timmy’s mom (always in a fabulous dress) and she always had a fresh chocolate cake when he came home from school…are you with me? Did you watch that? Or was that just me…ok…I digress…
So I made this….for $4 (cost of the canvas….free books, had the glue (rubber cement… and black paper…)
Mine $4…..BOOYAH!!!!
Here is how I did it…
Trace out on a sheet of poster board  (be sure it is the same size as your canvas you will be using) the dress design….I printed out the picture and used it as a guide…it is really basic shapes..don’t tell me you can’t draw this…if you break it down into pieces…I promise you can….doesn’t have to be perfect…

When you like your sketch….get your book out ( I had an old one sitting around…) and tear out a few pages….I started by tracing the arms onto the paper (if you used a piece of poster board you could just cut it out and use that for your template of pieces.)

Start with the arms…(do one, and then reverse it on another page and trace the opposite arm)

Then do the center…be sure the page writing goes at a slant…adds to the design

See how the center pages are at a slant…sorry, this is hard to explain ;)

Then I cut 4 pieces for the skirt out of the same book pages…
I used this old Heloise books….

For the other part of the skirt I used a newer book with whiter pages….

I used the book to hold the pages in place to trace a scallop design…then I cut them that shape.
I did the accent pieces by themselves…using black scrapbook paper and book pages without writing…( you will need 2 triangles for the collar, a center piece and black round buttons, and a belt with a center oval…)

For the center belt I just cut the center out…
I glued it down to the canvas with rubber cement (doesn’t wrinkle or warp…love that)

Oh so cute! I am LUURRRVVVEEE!!!
Sharing…Knock it Off Contest, Sugar Bee, Vintage Pollyana, Hope Studios, Knock Off Decor, All Things Related, Tip Junkie, Mad in Crafts,  My Backyard Eden, A Beach Cottage, Sew much ado, seven thirty three, Creattions by kara, Between You and Me , momnivoresdilemma, Christinas Adventures, Remodelaholic, 504 Main, Frou Frou Decor, Creation Corner, Tattertot and Jello

Photobucket
 Be Inspired to be Clever ;)

Thanks for reading! Please consider visiting me on Facebook, Twitter and pinterest! Fun things shared in between post!
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Share

Tracie

Tracie Stoll is a wife, mom and has a passion for creating new things. On her blog Cleverlyinspired.com she is constantly sharing ways to inspire her readers to be clever in their own home. Since 2010 Tracie has been sharing DIY projects, crafting, remodeling and decorating along with some easy tasty recipes...all on a mindful budget. She is a graduate of the University of Dayton where she studied visual art and communications. Tracie has been featured on popular sites such as Country Living, CNN living, Good Housekeeping, Better Homes and Gardens, Huffington Post, Apartment Therapy, Seventeen and Design Sponge. She is also a member of the True Value Blog Squad & Martha's Circle of trusted bloggers.

You may also like...

42 Comments

  1. Kathleen

    Too stinkin' cute! Thanks for sharing this adorable project.

  2. Condo Blues

    Oh I love it! It would look great in a craft or sewing room.

  3. Laurie Turk

    Great job!

  4. Allison

    That is adorable! Fabulous job!

  5. MCB

    That is so clever!

  6. Keisha Lynn @ Project Campbell

    Ok, that is just adorable!!!!

  7. Rebekah★All Thingz Related★

    When I saw this in the Ballard Designs catalog, I knew someone would attempt to make one and YOU did a fantastic job! I'll be sharing on the All Thingz Related FB page! Thanks so much for joining me at Anything Related!

  8. Alicia@Thrifty And Chic

    This turned out better than the original! I love it!! and for $4? Heck yeah :)

  9. Meg

    Isn't it amazing what people will charge for things? And yours turned out just as cute if not cuter! Thanks for the tutorial! Great job.

    I'd love for you to join my giveaway for a vintage trinket tray going on now! http://alittleknickknack.blogspot.com/2011/01/giveaway-with-cotton-breeze.html

  10. Patti's Artful Design

    Love it, love it, love it! Just wonderful, Tracie and so clever!

  11. Amy of WhisperWood Cottage and Junkologie

    It's awesome! And for $4? Brilliant!! Now, where is that fresh chocolate cake? :)

  12. Christina

    Ahhh so fun!! And you can't beat that pricetag! Love it!

    Thank you so much for linking up to "20 Below Thursday"! :) I really appreciate it!!

  13. Momma Button

    Just popped over from All Things Related. Total LURVE!! I just saw this today in the catalog….thanks for the tutorial! Now I can have one of my own!

  14. Tracy's Trinkets and Treasures/Treasured Moments

    I used this post for the feature this week on my sidebar, but I don't know how to get a direct link to it from your blog.

  15. Randi

    I've been waiting for someone to recreate that … you did a great job!

  16. Crafty Girls

    Totally LOVE this! Great job! I am going to do this for my sewing room! I might try to make my dress out of pattern pieces…I will let you know how it turns out!

    Thanks for sharing!
    Irene

  17. Laura at Ms. Smartie Pants

    When my sister in law saw this she about died and said she was going to make it. Now I can show her how! Great job!

  18. Anne

    That's so cute – yours looks exactly like the Ballard one! When I saw that in the catalog I knew it was just a matter of time before I saw one in blog-world. ;)

  19. THE.PAINTED.STUDIO

    I saw this picture this week and wondered which blogger would be the first to "remake" this one! Congratulations…you are it! You did a good job. I think this is too cute. I thought about making one as well. I like the idea of staining the canvas to make it all look a bit old.

  20. KJ@letsgoflyakite

    I don't really keep an eye on the Ballard Catalog, we don't have one in Canada, but I absolutely love this!

    -visiting via the Weekend Wrap Up

  21. Patrice

    I don't keep up with Ballard Design, so yours is the FIRST I am seeing. And, I love it! Great job!

  22. Laura Ingalls Gunn

    This is completely adorable! Well done!

  23. Ethnic Girl Fun

    Great Job!

  24. tales from an oc cottage

    Oh my gosh…HOW CUTE!!

    m ^..^

  25. Destination Seaborn

    When I saw this in Ballards I thought this would be perfect the gift for my mother. I knew if I waited long enough someone would make it. Awesome job and tutorial! I can't wait to try it. I'm coming over from knock off decor. Lisa

  26. Victoria at Party Puff

    I thought the same thing when I saw it in the catalog. Good for you! Looks great.

  27. Daydream Believer

    Great job! :) M*

  28. Candace@craftysisters-nc

    Love that you made it for 4 bucks. Great job.

  29. C.R.A.F.T.

    I LOVE new ways to use old books :) come on over and link up to MMM!

  30. Polly

    I saw this in Ballard and thought it was soooooo darn cute!! I love that you did it for $4! Now that is awesome!! It is fabulous! I love it!!

    Thanks for sharing the "how-to"!

    Polly

  31. Kim @ Cheap Chic Home

    I lurrves it, too! I just saw that in their catalog and thought 'what a great piece to copy'. Go you! :)

  32. The Decorating Diaries

    I love it! I was going to try and copy that, too. Great job.

    Janet

  33. Terry

    I thought about doing this too but I don't have any wall space for it. You did a bang up job!

  34. Cozy Home Scenes

    I've never seen the original before now, but both yours and it are so cute! Thanks for sharing how you made it. Amazing how they can get that kind of money for something that you taught everyone how to do on the cheap.

    By the way, I loved Lassie as a child too, in part because I had a dog (my was male like the dog who played Lassie. However, somehow my dog was never as smart as Lassie was.

  35. vintage vine

    Wow!!! Love it, great job on this knock off…love your blog, visiting from Dittle Dattle.

  36. Nicolette @ Momnivore's Dilemma

    awesome knock off!

    Thanks for linking up to Creative Juice last week…hope to see you back this week…

  37. It's a Keeper

    This looks great! I would love for you to link this or any of your projects or recipes to my blog hop @ It's a Keeper Thursdays. http://www.everydaytastes.com/

    Thanks so much for sharing!

  38. Angie

    I might have to snag this to make for my seamstress SIL! Love it!

  39. Erin @ Crafts and Sutch

    I showed you off over at Crafts & Sutch today! I hope you'll come by, take a peek, and grab a SUTCH an Inspiration button to add to your collection.

    Have a wonderful day!
    Erin

  40. Angie @ The Country Chic Cottage

    Great knock off!! Thanks for auditioning for OMTWI!! Don't forget to put the button in your post or sidebar!

  41. Holly

    Yours is just as good as the original. What a fun project! Thanks for joining my party!

  42. CharityHand

    Awesome job! I too was inspired by this print. Such a fun project.

Comments are closed.