I Just Spotted the Smartest Way to Create Chic Wall Art for Cheap

My favorite kind of wall art are the pieces I’ve made myself or collected slowly in meaningful ways over the years. Above my desk, my 2026 vision board is on display along with the custom calendar my mom gave me for Christmas with photos of my younger siblings. Above my bed, I’ve hung every card I’ve gotten from my friends, family, and my boyfriend since starting college. When I need a pick-me-up, I always give them a quick read. 

Some of my favorite mini prints are all the postcards I’ve collected from the places I’ve traveled to in the last four years, from a spring break trip to Colorado to a family vacation to the Dominican Republic. But, as I get ready to start a new phase of my life postgraduation, I want to level up my decor beyond just taping things up onto the wall. This TikTok video from Leigha (@leighaschmidt) gave me a perfect way to do just that.

In her video, Leigha shows how she thrifts frames, creates her own mats out of a piece of fabric, and uses postcards as the art to elevate them from a piece of mail or a mini memento to a priceless work of wall art.  

One reason I’m such a fan of postcards as souvenirs is because they’re cheap and you can find them everywhere. For usually around a dollar, I can get a postcard that represents my favorite coffee shop or my trip abroad. You can get really creative with them, too; rather than buying a postcard of the city center, I commemorated my trip to Brussels with a gorgeous print of some french fries (frites, if you will). 

Also, you don’t have to frame each postcard individually. You can add several to a larger frame or collage them in the frame to use as the background for another piece of wall art. Framed postcards are also a cute addition to an existing gallery wall, or the perfect pieces to start one with, since they all tend to have the same standard dimensions and are easy to find frames for.