Crafting With Paint Chips. DIY & Art Galore

So inspiring!! Love it!

please, Please, PLEASE stop it with the paint chip insanity. Paint chips are available at paint stores to help you find the appropriate color of paint to purchase. That. Is. IT. Please do NOT go to paint/DIY stores and stock up on paint chips to turn into bookmarks, placeholders, or decoration. That is NOT what they're there for, and if people like you continue to abuse them it won't be long before paint/DIY stores are forced to either charge for paint chips or simply get rid of them all together.

If you're going to advocate paint-chip-based crafts, please also educate about where to purchase these paint chips and the responsibility to do so. Freeloading only works for so long, and once it stops working it will also affect all of us who just want to paint our bedroom walls and don't care about your clever color-matched wine charms.

What a colorful way to recycle! Absolutely love :)

@sean..before u accuse people of "stealing" paint chips......u should make sure they did!! maybe they are discontinued swatches or recycled...like taken for actual paint choosing....and then re used............................

I'm sure not everyone "steals" (why is that in quotes?) paint chips. However you only have to follow the very first link to Hey Gorgeous Events, read the article, and read the comments to see that most people who have caught this paint-chip-craze are at least taking more than their fair share.

Most of the things pictured here are gorgeous and awesome and I love the idea, but I do think it's the responsibility of those demonstrating the cool-ness, to also mention that obtaining paint chips by "stealing" them is actually a lot less cool.

YES! Thank you SeanMichael!!! +1!!

SeanMichael wrote:

please, Please, PLEASE stop it with the paint chip insanity. Paint chips are available at paint stores to help you find the appropriate color of paint to purchase. That. Is. IT. Please do NOT go to paint/DIY stores and stock up on paint chips to turn into bookmarks, placeholders, or decoration. That is NOT what they're there for, and if people like you continue to abuse them it won't be long before paint/DIY stores are forced to either charge for paint chips or simply get rid of them all together.

If you're going to advocate paint-chip-based crafts, please also educate about where to purchase these paint chips and the responsibility to do so. Freeloading only works for so long, and once it stops working it will also affect all of us who just want to paint our bedroom walls and don't care about your clever color-matched wine charms.

I'll refer you to the photos of using paint chips as wallpaper...looks like a lot of the same chips to me. And a quote from the Hey Gorgeous Events post:

I have to admit guys, that ‘borrowing’ the paint swatches for this little project wasn’t the easiest thing to do. I may have ran, yeah like actually ran, out of Lowes the third time I took a trip there to make sure I had enough coloured swatches for my chandelier (to the staff at Lowes, I am entirely sorry for stealing all but one of the Pink Shell paint swatches). But in the end I think my theif-ery was well worth it because this little ombre paint chip chandelier turned out so sweet.

The OP admits she stole the paint swatches!!

laurenlee wrote:

@sean..before u accuse people of "stealing" paint chips......u should make sure they did!! maybe they are discontinued swatches or recycled...like taken for actual paint choosing....and then re used............................

I have to agree with Sean. It's like walking into a one of those chain restaurants and taking handfuls of mints by the register without eating a meal there. In the purely ethical sense it IS stealing if you are not purchasing paint.

Besides, it's a waste of paper and ink because the paint companies just have to print more samples... I'd like to see more of these craft sites suggesting people recycle magazines or catalogs. You can get great results - especially with the more artistic ones like Free People or Anthropologie.

Yes, yes, yes! I needed this article so much!
I love those color samples but I never thought to do something with them...
Now I need to hunt them to make something creative.


Garlands


Chip coasters








Marylin pixelated with paint chips
Source

While I do love these ideas, I completely agree with Sean. Taking that many is stealing. I know that people pick up lots of them for paint jobs, and thats their use, but some of these projects have obviously been done with stolen chips.

THAT BEING SAID...it's not so difficult to simply recreate some cute paint chips with programs like Illustrator. I've done some proofs of projects before, you simply find a nice color gradient and set the size and spaces you want. You can then even use the places where names of paint are listed to incorporate your own words (kids names, special dates, anniversaries etc) I feel like the paint chip craze is interesting in that people come up with some really neat stuff, but PLEASE don't go stealing handfuls of chips.

sean...ok...didnt see the artilce.....you are correct.........................

That' s a great and very DIY suggestion!

Another suggestion that occurred to me is that old Pantone swatch books can yield the same creative fun- you can scour Craigslist or ask a local college/ school art department if they are looking to rid themselves of any Pantone books. 'Course, those things aren't cheap, so obtaining one for free requires some luck. :)

sec9586 wrote:

THAT BEING SAID...it's not so difficult to simply recreate some cute paint chips with programs like Illustrator. I've done some proofs of projects before, you simply find a nice color gradient and set the size and spaces you want. You can then even use the places where names of paint are listed to incorporate your own words (kids names, special dates, anniversaries etc) I feel like the paint chip craze is interesting in that people come up with some really neat stuff, but PLEASE don't go stealing handfuls of chips.

SO FANTASTIC...just sent this to my color theory students who have color scheme projects due next Monday. i AM SURE IT'LL SPARK SOME CREATIVITY.
michelle stroescu

Look at the Marilyn mosaic!! That is mind-blowing. I want. :D

And, from what I've read, those paint chips are expensive for paint companies to produce. So, yes, please use common sense and don't rip off hand fulls of paint chips.

I think this was a fantastic collection of the paint chip / color use trend.

I'd like to add a bit regarding the controversy here. I want to first point out that although I completely agree with the fact that one shouldn't steal (duh). And it is very likely that most of these projects are done from people abusing the fact that paint stores allow you to take chip samples home for the purpose of buying their paint, from their store and you are not only affecting the store's supply room, but the paint companies as mentioned above, who supply these for you.

With that said...

A) Allison as the author of this post, shouldn't be condemned for posting about a colorful trend which gives us a unique usage of a certain item - paint chips samples.

@SeanMichael - Obviously you felt compelled enough about our article and topic matter here to join the community today. I wonder if you went to each and every source to also comment about the abuse. ;) I do get it though. But understand that this is simply a great collection of what people are making, not encouraging people to go out and steal... that's like blaming the cigarette company or something - do we really need a warning label to tell us they aren't healthy?

B) It isn't Allison's responsibility to tell us not to steal. I think we're all old enough to know better, even if another cool project admits they took more than they should have. Use your own sense of what's right and wrong. :)

C) Assuming every one of these projects were from "stealing" - is probably not a good way to make your assumptions as there are MANY variables that are at play. Yes, I'm using quotes because although they ARE "free" they aren't meant for one to take more than they need, like say, more than one or two. Again, duh.

I thought that @Escarii was on the right track! And a few others mentioned re-using discontinued lines, etc. I think that if you really wanted a large quantity for a wall or something big, you could simply ask the paint store about getting ahold of a large pack and if that leads to no help, call or email the paint line customer service.

Unfortunately, this is one of those trends where if you had to pay to get the item being used, it probably wouldn't be as trendy. Kinda funny instance to think about.

^^^ Everything Molly said times 50!

Why can't EVERYTHING be as pretty and as colourful as these photos? Like that Sherwin-Williams commercial! :D

I love everything on this page -- I'm in Heaven!

I once collected all the used paint swatches I could get my hands on and blue-tacked them to my bedroom wall, didn't know I was so ahead of my time with interior decorating! Love this article, especially this..

After painting my daughters room (green her favorite color) we had somewhere between 50-75 paint chips most of which were green but also a few other colors that we are thinking about using through out the rest of the house. My daughter came across them while looking for things to use for her book she was writing and decorating she asked me if she could use the paint chips I said sure we dont need them and then I was interested in what she was planning on doing with them. She had grabbed my paper punches and was making little cut outs of shapes to glue to the cover of her book, then her school note book and binder too. Then my address book and the white board in the kitchen and it was super cute. That got me thinking so we googled paint chip crafts and came across so many cute ideas. By then we had about 10 chips left to play with. Once those were gone I thought about wanting to do more of the crafts we seen I called the local paint store and asked if they could tell me about how much it would cost to get maybe a 100 or so samples ( I thought about going and grabbing them first but then figured I would be setting my self up for a problem by basically "stealing" them even if they are free dont need to set that example for my mini me!) The store told me well we have tons that get faded or the colors are no longer made by the company or bent that they do not display that we would be more then welcome to have for free. So we picked them up in return we brought the owner a few of the business card holders made from the paint chip cards he was surprised. He also gave us the idea of contacting other paint supply stores and seeing if they had un usable chips or stores going out of business. So with that being said if anyone wants to try any fun colorful paint chip crafts and rather not "steal" the free samples then just ask around, if someone you know recently painted their home ask if they have any left over chip sets or call stores and I dont see why if they are just collecting dust and taking up storage space why they wouldnt give them to you. Happy Crafting!


mollybermea wrote:

I think this was a fantastic collection of the paint chip / color use trend.

I'd like to add a bit regarding the controversy here. I want to first point out that although I completely agree with the fact that one shouldn't steal (duh). And it is very likely that most of these projects are done from people abusing the fact that paint stores allow you to take chip samples home for the purpose of buying their paint, from their store and you are not only affecting the store's supply room, but the paint companies as mentioned above, who supply these for you.

With that said...

A) Allison as the author of this post, shouldn't be condemned for posting about a colorful trend which gives us a unique usage of a certain item - paint chips samples.

@SeanMichael - Obviously you felt compelled enough about our article and topic matter here to join the community today. I wonder if you went to each and every source to also comment about the abuse. ;) I do get it though. But understand that this is simply a great collection of what people are making, not encouraging people to go out and steal... that's like blaming the cigarette company or something - do we really need a warning label to tell us they aren't healthy?

B) It isn't Allison's responsibility to tell us not to steal. I think we're all old enough to know better, even if another cool project admits they took more than they should have. Use your own sense of what's right and wrong. :)

C) Assuming every one of these projects were from "stealing" - is probably not a good way to make your assumptions as there are MANY variables that are at play. Yes, I'm using quotes because although they ARE "free" they aren't meant for one to take more than they need, like say, more than one or two. Again, duh.

I thought that @Escarii was on the right track! And a few others mentioned re-using discontinued lines, etc. I think that if you really wanted a large quantity for a wall or something big, you could simply ask the paint store about getting ahold of a large pack and if that leads to no help, call or email the paint line customer service.

Unfortunately, this is one of those trends where if you had to pay to get the item being used, it probably wouldn't be as trendy. Kinda funny instance to think about.

That's it lads and gets! Open your mouth and be courageous! Many free stuff can be collected like this.
Thanks iluvhim637!

iluvhim637 wrote:

After painting my daughters room (green her favorite color) we had somewhere between 50-75 paint chips most of which were green but also a few other colors that we are thinking about using through out the rest of the house. My daughter came across them while looking for things to use for her book she was writing and decorating she asked me if she could use the paint chips I said sure we dont need them and then I was interested in what she was planning on doing with them. She had grabbed my paper punches and was making little cut outs of shapes to glue to the cover of her book, then her school note book and binder too. Then my address book and the white board in the kitchen and it was super cute. That got me thinking so we googled paint chip crafts and came across so many cute ideas. By then we had about 10 chips left to play with. Once those were gone I thought about wanting to do more of the crafts we seen I called the local paint store and asked if they could tell me about how much it would cost to get maybe a 100 or so samples ( I thought about going and grabbing them first but then figured I would be setting my self up for a problem by basically "stealing" them even if they are free dont need to set that example for my mini me!) The store told me well we have tons that get faded or the colors are no longer made by the company or bent that they do not display that we would be more then welcome to have for free. So we picked them up in return we brought the owner a few of the business card holders made from the paint chip cards he was surprised. He also gave us the idea of contacting other paint supply stores and seeing if they had un usable chips or stores going out of business. So with that being said if anyone wants to try any fun colorful paint chip crafts and rather not "steal" the free samples then just ask around, if someone you know recently painted their home ask if they have any left over chip sets or call stores and I dont see why if they are just collecting dust and taking up storage space why they wouldnt give them to you. Happy Crafting!

nice molly!!!!!!!!!!

That is exactly what I had in mind. I would think if one would simply ask, rather than over-take, it could actually turn out swell! Great addition to the controversy.

I'd love to see those business card paint chip holders!


iluvhim637 wrote:

.... I called the local paint store and asked if they could tell me about how much it would cost to get maybe a 100 or so samples ( I thought about going and grabbing them first but then figured I would be setting my self up for a problem by basically "stealing" them even if they are free dont need to set that example for my mini me!) The store told me well we have tons that get faded or the colors are no longer made by the company or bent that they do not display that we would be more then welcome to have for free. So we picked them up in return we brought the owner a few of the business card holders made from the paint chip cards he was surprised. He also gave us the idea of contacting other paint supply stores and seeing if they had un usable chips or stores going out of business. So with that being said if anyone wants to try any fun colorful paint chip crafts and rather not "steal" the free samples then just ask around, if someone you know recently painted their home ask if they have any left over chip sets or call stores and I dont see why if they are just collecting dust and taking up storage space why they wouldnt give them to you. Happy Crafting!

Really cute ideas, but that is pretty much stealing. Try what iluvhim637 did instead. What about shredded paper crafts instead?

Pretty soon, stores are going to running out of paint chips thanks to all the crafting buzz

Just my two cents... why would anyone want to use an old Pantone color book? Unless it's the older kind with the tear-out tab colors... but those are very small. The newer books are amazing and do not need to be torn apart for things such as this. Also, they are very expensive!

When I was in college, we painted all of our color chips, in squares or whatever shapes we needed. I love the ideas in this article, but I propose using illustrator to print out your color samples, or painting them by hand.

Wow so simple and inexpensive! Thank you so much, this inspired me.

I like the idea of painting them by hand! Great suggestion.

jeremycole wrote:

Just my two cents... why would anyone want to use an old Pantone color book? Unless it's the older kind with the tear-out tab colors... but those are very small. The newer books are amazing and do not need to be torn apart for things such as this. Also, they are very expensive!

When I was in college, we painted all of our color chips, in squares or whatever shapes we needed. I love the ideas in this article, but I propose using illustrator to print out your color samples, or painting them by hand.

hi. All of them make inspire me! It's so creative idea of color matching. Thank you and enjoy today!! :)