Pondering what you can finally do with all of the rainbow-tinted paint chip samples that you've been snagging from your local home improvement store throughout the years?

One of my friends "upholstered" the front of her circa 50s flea market liquor storage cabinet with a range of teal colored paint chips -- that definitely looked interesting.

I've also seen tutorials on how to make your own paint chip bulletin board or create everything from bookmarks, cards and gift tags to wallpaper.

For some reason, though, paint chip portraits really make me sit up and say WOW!!

I really like how painter Annie Galvin of Wexford Girl has used these chips as a backdrop for her series of seasonally contemplative bears.

I could easily see these being featured on the front of any greeting card.

This collage is located on the bathroom wall of a Ukrainian Village coffee shop called Star Lounge (in Chicago) and was created by a customer simply by tearing, cutting and overlapping shapes to create a city skyline. It was all tacked down with a glue stick!

Paul Jutton's pixelated portrait was crafted from hundreds of hardware-store paint chips -- I think that I can make out a smiling boy, but I'm sure that it's best viewed from a distance.

While I appreciate everything that the artists above have created, Tim Fraser Brown's version of Manet's Bar at the Folies Bergere is simply jaw-dropping -- look below for his inspiration.

I think that paint chips are going to be my new best friend.