diy,  home decor

Adding ephemera to home decor

Adding ephemera to home decor is not a new concept, but it is one that I have not used much in the past. And there are so many beautiful pieces of history that, when incorporated well, bring so much uniqueness and character to a room. It could be an old piece of wallpaper that would be overwhelming as a wall covering for the whole room, but would make a nice pop of color. Or old maps of places dear to me.

On one of my recent estate sales explorations, I found a treasure trove of vintage postcards and brought home a select dozen. A few of them were images of the Moon landing, a couple of funny cards and some gorgeous landscapes.

vintage paper ephemera for home decor - post cards of the Moon Landing and landscapes

Ephemera choice – Zion Postcard

One particular picture caught my eye and I had no doubts that it would look great in a simple black frame. It was a painting of The Temple of Sinawava located in Zion National Park, printed on linen paper with vibrant colors. It reminded me of my own trip to Zion and it was a great reminder of that trip.

Photograph of Zion National Park

The (super easy) process of creating custom home decor

The particular frame I used came with a crisp white mat. For background, I used simple black scrapbooking paper cut to size and lightly glued to the back of the mat. For reference, the frame fits 8×10 photos and mat opening is 4.5×6.5 inches, exactly one inch longer than the postcard on both sides.

ephemera i home decor - postcard in a frame

When it came to adding the postcard, I decided to use the easiest method to attach it, while causing the least damage. I know there is a two-sided tape, but I only had regular Scotch tape available. So, I cut small pieces of tape, and attached the ends in a hoop with the sticky side out.

paper ephemera vintage postcard of ion National Park The Temple of Sinawava

Then I firmly pressed the postcard on to the card stock and voila. And I loved the end result, with all the stark contrasts and amazing quality of this piece of ephemera.

ephemera in home decor - vintage postcard in a frame

And the frame just tied it all together.

framed paper ephemera  Zion postcard vintage stock

This was a quick project and a pretty budget-friendly way to create unique art to add to home decor. Now I will be on the lookout for even more fun ephemera I could add as home decor around the house.