Here’s how to get great art into your home super inexpensively. This is the third time I’ve done this, and I look forward to doing more. The photo above shows the first piece of art I worked with. It’s a copy of “The Happy Family” by Ferdinand Georg Waldmuller. I found the above art years ago in a magazine and it just spoke to me. Looking at it helped me through a dark time in my family life. I’m so grateful for it. Don’t despair if you can’t afford to buy art from high-priced stores. With technology these days, almost anyone can afford to have beautiful art in the home. We are so blessed to live in such a marvelous age with the classics within reach of nearly anyone who desires them. Art speaks to the soul in a way nothing else can and inspires one to rise above the daily grind with a higher vision. We need not deprive ourselves and our families of beauty inside our home to gaze upon each day. So, here’s how to decorate your walls with beautiful classical and religious art, at a very low price.

1. First, gather some print magazines from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you sign up for a Church account, or already have an account, you can subscribe to the print magazines for free. (The magazines are The Friend for children ages 3-11, For the Strength of Youth for 12-18, and The Liahona for adults.) Go here to get a Church account and/or subscribe. As far as I can tell, you don’t have to be a member to get an account and subscribe, as long as you agree to the terms of service.

2. Flip through your magazines and find the piece of art in the pages that speaks to your soul, one where you just instantly feel like you have to frame and hang on your wall. In my case, it was this print above of a portrait of Jesus Christ by Greg Olsen. It’s from The Friend, the April 2025 issue, shown below. It’s the inside of the front cover. I guess you could print it from the link I just gave using your computer’s printer if you have a super high-quality printer and plenty of colored ink, if you trust your printer to do a great job.

Interestingly enough, I had found this same artwork in the form of a jigsaw puzzle when thrifting a few years ago. We did the puzzle during an April General Conference in my former home, what I affectionately call the Cottage on the Corner. I just think it’s so beautiful. I love the grayish blue of the coat of Jesus, the lavender bluish gray of the mountains in the background, and then the yellows, pinks, and blues in the sky, reflected in the water. This painting just radiates hope and calmness from Jesus all at the same time.

This particular piece is called, “Walk With Me.” You can buy it already framed over here, a 7×9 size, shown below with a mat as well, for only $20, which is a great deal! Notice that Jesus’ feet are cut off in the magazine version above but not in the framed art from Greg’s site below. Did I already mention how amazingly beautiful I think this art is? I just love, love how the artist Greg created the luminosity surrounding the Savior in the sky and water, and how His steps look so grounded. Jesus is definitely our ultimate hero to follow, and this piece shows that so gorgeously.

3. Then find a frame you want to use with the art. A few weeks ago, I went thrifting with the specific intention of finding a gray frame to go with this particular piece of art. As soon as I walked into the Orem UT Savers store and went over to the frame section, I found “the one”! A solid, wide, gray, wooden, 8×10 frame. Perfect!!! I felt the angels were definitely watching out for me and singing when I found this! They had put it in my path for sure! It was only $3! (To learn about help from angels when thrifting, go here, and scroll down to the bottom of the post if you don’t want to see all my thrifting deals and just want to read how I get help from angels.)

OK, now that you have your magazine with your picture inside picked out, and your frame selected, you are set to create your beautiful home decor.

4. Carefully remove the page you are framing from the magazine. To do so, cut the page out with scissors, or use an exacto knife against some kind of protective surface, or gently remove the staples used for the binding, and then cut the art from the adjoining page. In my example, the page was on the back of the front cover, so it was printed on heavier paper, therefore it was easier to just gently tear away. If you aren’t sure about your ability to gently tear the page, then definitely cut it or remove the staples and then cut it.

5. Put the page in the frame and see where you need to trim it to make it fit. You can see above how the top edge overlaps the inner part of the frame.

6. Carefully measure off with a ruler or guess at what you need to cut off, if you are good at what my artist mom calls “eyeballing it.” In my case, I just kept trimming off 1/8th of an inch on all four sides, after drawing a line with a pencil and a ruler to follow when cutting, until the page fit.

7. Keep checking the fit and trimming until you get it right. The above photo shows how much I had to cut off to make it fit.

8. When the page finally fits, put it in the frame, assemble the back with the padding that is usually included with the frame, and hang it on the wall. All done! Enjoy your beautiful art that cost next to nothing! Here’s how mine looks on my wall, below.

I love it! I’m not sure, however, if the above spot is the final resting place for my new framed work of art. I’m just not sure how I like the curved gold frame of the clock with the heavy gray frame of Jesus and the white trim of the doorway to the left. So, I’m moving this framed art around to see where it looks best. Or maybe I’ll move the clock. Anyway, I love decorating with creativity and frugality! Of course, I’d love to have a million dollars to decorate with as well, but for now I’ll make do with what I have. Maybe I’ll eventually advance to including mats with my framing.

Of course, you are not limited to Church magazines. It’s just easy for me to find images in those because that’s what I have. You could use any magazine full of pictures you enjoy. Or the Internet with a great printer and lots of color ink. Or find some framed art when thrifting! I haven’t done that yet but I’ve seen a few thrifty vloggers doing that. The sky’s the limit with this idea!

Next, I’m going to find some frames when thrifting for this set of illustrations of a tree branch, shown below, by Michael Dunford that appeared in the April 2025 Liahona magazine. They accompany an article by Elder Gerritt W. Gong about Jesus and the message of Easter. I’ll probably just splurge and buy a set of three new matching frames that are narrower than what I used above for Jesus. I’m just not sure what color I want those frames to be. Gray? Silver? White? Gold? Cherry wood? Hmmm….I’m thinking probably cherry. Those blossoms are either apple or cherry ones.

P.S. If you want the image of “The Happy Family” by Ferdinand Waldmuller, it was in the June 2005 Ensign magazine. (Ensign is the name of the magazine for adults before it was changed to Liahona.) You can go here to print a copy. It is just so beautiful! I love it so much, with its meaning of finding joy and peace at home by connecting with your family members.