Framing children's art work is one of the best ways to personalize a home, and by transforming second-hand frames with Amy Howard at Home One Step Paint, you can decorate your walls for very little money.

Step One: Gather your child's artwork

Step Two: Head to your local thrift store

Bring your selection of artwork with you to find the correct size picture frame. Most thrift stores have a large selection of discarded picture frames. As you will be painting the frames, it does not matter if the frames match each other.

Most thrift stores have half off days. Wait until your local thrift store does. These three frames cost a total of $5.50 on a half off day, or $1.84 each.

Tip: See how easy it is easy to remove the back. The easier it is now, the easier it will be when your project is finished, and you want to put in your artwork. If the backing was professionally done, you may want to pass on the frame as it will be more difficult to reassemble.

Step Three: Remove the backing and the glass
Once you are back home and ready to start, take everything out of the frame. Set aside until you have finished the project.

Step Four: Start painting
What is so great about Amy Howard at Home One Step Paint is that it does not require priming or sanding. You just paint, and it applies to almost anything. Before you start, shake the paint, then using an inexpensive China bristle brush, start painting.

Tips: If you are going to paint the back of the frame, start on that area first, then flip after it is dry and paint the front. Also, it is easiest to paint on a square of cardboard, so you can rotate the frame using the cardboard (rather than picking it up and moving it) to ensure you have painted all sides.

Step Five: Wax
After the paint is dry, after about twenty minutes, you'll need to wax the frame using Amy Howard at Home Light Antique Wax. (If you want the paint to dry faster, use a hair dryer.)

Lightly coat the brush with wax and then brush the majority of it off on to a piece of cardboard. This will ensure you apply only a thin layer of wax. Remember, less is more, and it definitely is when waxing. Feather the wax on in quick crisscrossing strokes.

Step Six: Place your artwork in the frame
You are done! This whole project takes about a half hour, with most of the time being spent waiting for the paint to dry.

Remember that old, yellow picture frame?

It has been transformed to hold our little artist's self portrait.

If you have some outdated kitchen accessories or find some at a garage sale, you can easily transform them in minutes with just a can of spray paint. To match the black flecks in my kitchen granite counters, I have decorated my kitchen with black accessories, like the black paper towel holder in the below picture. However, I also had an old silver-colored utensil holder as well as a napkin holder I had considered donating to a local thrift shop as they didn't match and stood out.

It wasn't the condition or the style of the utensils that made me want to discard them. It was their color did not go with my home. So instead of throwing them out, I decided to give them a new life by spray painting them black using a flat black spray paint. It is best to paint the underside first, then flip right side up and finish off the project. Hold the can a good distance away to evenly spray and keep the paint from forming lumps on the surface. If you are impatient and want your paint to dry quickly, use a hair dryer and your project will be done in just a few minutes.

,Below are the finished results. This entire project took less than five minutes, and with very little money, I now have two "new" kitchen accessories.