If you do a lot of altered books, art journaling, postcards, artist trading cards, or any other type of mixed-media work, chances are, you start with some sort of theme. Sometimes, those theme ideas just come to you, like a little gift box popping up in your head. When they don't, it helps to have some sort of theme list, so you can scroll through, and get that magic spark to get you going.

For many years, I kept an ever-growing list of themes posted at Go Make Something. When I last updated it in 2014, the list had over 400 theme suggestions.

Here's the newly updated version of that list, with over 500 theme ideas:

60’s
70’s
80’s
Abstract
Advertising
Advocacy
Africa
Alice in Wonderland
All about me
Alphabet or dictionary
Altered photos
American fifties ads
Anatomy
Ancient civilizations
Ancient cultures
Ancient history
Ancient spirits
Andy Warhol
Angels
Animals
Antique maps
Anything antique
Aqua
Arabian nights
Archetypes
Around the world
Art and politics
Art Nouveau
Asian
Astrology
Astronomy
At the beach
At the movies
Au Naturel
Autumn
Babies
Bad art
Bad habits
Bad things
Bats
Bears
Beauty myths
Beeswax
Best inventions in the world
Bingo
Birds
Bizarre
Black
Black and white
Black widows
Blue
Board books
Boats
Body parts
Books
Bowling
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Breaking Bad
Bronze
Bucket list
Butterflies
Camelot
Candyland
Carnival
Cartoon characters
Carve your own stamps
Cats
Celebration of the body
Celestial
Celtic
Cemeteries
Censorship
Chakras
Childhood
Childhood memories
Children
Children’s literature
Chocolate
Christmas
Circles
Circus
Cityscapes
Classical composers
Clockwork Orange
Clowns
Cocktails
Coffee
Collage
Colors
Comics
Compassion
Conflict
Consumerism
Consumption
Cookies
Costumes
Cowboys
Cowgirls
Crazy weather
Create your own goddess
Creative Life
Creepy
Crime
Crime and punishment
Cryptography
Culture
Cultures
Cupcakes
Cyberpunk
Dance
Dark and strange
Darkness
Day of the Dead
Denim and diamonds
Desire
Digital
Disco
Disguise
Distortions
Dolls
Doors
Doors & windows
Dragonflies
Dragons
Dream landscapes
Dreams
Ecology
Eggs
Egyptian
Elegance
Elements
Elephants
Emotional self-portrait
Emotions
Enchanted forest
Endangered occupations
Environment
Experiments
Eyeglasses
Eyes
Fabric
Faces
Fairies
Fairy tales and folklore
Family Tree
Famous landmarks
Famous poets
Famous women
Fantasy
Fashion
Faux postage
Favorite books
Favorite characters
Favorite films
Favorite things
Felines
Feminine mystique
Fibers
Fiesta
Figments of your imagination
Film
Finding Nemo
Flamingoes
Flower power
Flowers
Fonts and Lettering
Food/cooking/edible stuff
Footprints
Foreign text
Fortune cookie sayings
Found objects
Found poetry
Four seasons
Freedom
Fruits & vegetables
Full Circle
Fun
Gadgets
Game of Thrones
Game pieces
Games people play
Garden tools
Gardens
Genealogy/ancestors
Geometric shapes
Ghosts
Girlfriends
Gnomes
Goals
Goddess in every woman
Goddesses
Gold
Graffiti
Graphic Novels
Grasses
Gratitude
Great Outdoors
Green
Growing Up
Growth
Gypsy
Halloween
Hand-drawn
Hands
Handwritten
Happiness is…
Harry Potter
Harvest
Hats
Haunted houses
Head in the Clouds
Hearts
Herbs
Heroines
Historical costumes
Hobbies
Holidays
House & home
House of blues
Houses
Human anatomy
If I won the lottery
Imaginary maps
Imaginary places
India
Insects
Inside Out
Inspiration
Instruction booklets
Italy
Jazz
Jesters and jokers
Joy
Junk yard
King Arthur
Kings and Queens
Kitsch
Labels
Lace
Landscapes
Languages
Lavender
Leaves
Leonardo da Vinci
Life’s lessons
Lighthouses
Lists
Literature
Lord of the Rings
Loss
Lost
Lost things
Love
Love and romance

Macabre
Mad Men
Mad scientist
Made up countries or lands
Magic garden
Magic of the ordinary
Magical creatures
Magical recipes
Mandalas
Maps
Mardi gras
Marie Antoinette
Masks
Masquerade
Medicine and/or Anatomy
Men
Mermaids
Merry-go-round
Messy & Sloppy
Metal
Middle East
Mimes
Minions
Mirrors
Mixed media
Money
Monochromatic
Monsters
Motherhood
Motorcycles
Motown
Movie Posters
Moving parts
Murder
Murder mystery
Music
Music of the spheres
My favorite things
My life
Myself
Mythological creatures
Mythology
Native American
Nature
Nature spirits
Neverland
Newspaper clippings
Night
Nightmare before Christmas
Numbers
Ocean
Odd objects
Ode to famous artists
Office supplies
Old Hollywood
Old-timer cars
One image
Optical illusions
Orange
Out of Place
Owls
Oxymorons
Paradise
Paradox
Paris
Past times
Patchwork
Pattern
Penny dreadfuls
Pets
Photography
Photos from the attic
Pictures
Pin ups
Pirates
Pizza
Places you want to go
Play
Play on words
Poetry
Politics
Portraits
Positive affirmations
Postal
Postcard
Power
Pre-Raphaelites (or any artistic movement)
Princess
Printmaking
Protest
Pumpkins
Puppets
Purple
Puzzles
Queen of hearts
Questions
Quotations
Race
Rain
Rainbow
Recycled materials
Recycling
Red
Red, white & blue
Reflections
Resolutions
Robin Hood
Robots & spaceships
Roosters
Rubber stamping
Rubbings
Sacred spaces
Santas
Scary movies
School days
Sea
Seascapes
Seasonal celebrations
Seasons
Second chance
Self-portrait
Serengeti
Seven deadly sins
Seven wonders
Sewing
Shattered Images
Shrines
Snap shots
Snowmen
Solar System
Solitude
Song lyrics
Spells and magic
Spice
Spirituality
Sports
Spring
Star gazing
Steampunk
Stenciled motifs
Still life
Stories
Story lines
Storybook
Structures
Studio 54
Summer
Super heroes
Superheroes
Surrealist
Swirls
Symbolism
Symbols
Tags
Tailgating
Talking trees
Tarot cards
Tea
Tea Time
Teddy bears
Telephones
Textures
Theater
Things with wings
Through a Window
Throw away collage
Tim Burton
Time
Time and Space
Time travel
Torture
Toys
Traditional costumes
Transformation
Transparencies
Travel
Treasure decos
Treasure maps
Tree of life
Trees
Trivia
Trucks
Truth or dare
T-shirt sayings
Turquoise
Typewriter
Under the sea
Under the stars
Underwater
Unicorns
Unreal cities
Un-themed
Urban Art
Urban moments
Urban vs. Rural
Use acrylics only
Use pencils only
Use the computer only
Use watercolor only
Using lace
Vampires and creatures of the night
Venice
Vintage
Vintage fashion
Vintage men
Vintage nudes
Vintage photos
Vintage voyage
Vintage wallpaper
Wall art
Water
Weather
Weird
Weird science
Weirdness
What I'm doing now
Where I live
Whimsical
White
Wild animals
Wild west
Wild women
Windows
Wine
Wine, women and song
Wings
Winter
Winter wonderland
Witch queens
Witches
Wizard of Oz
Women
Women heroines
Wonderful women
Words of wisdom
World Holidays
World Religons
World Within a World
Yellow
Zen
Zetti
Zodiac
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2 thoughts on “Theme Ideas

  1. Had to do this last month before seeing your list. Used one listed ‘time travel’ – The Time Traveling Artist. Came to me at the very last minute.
    Thanks for the ideas.

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