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Thursday, July 16, 2009

Picture Frames



Above is the final project of something I've been working on this summer. I really enjoy the Shabby Chic style, but its super expensive! So, I decided to try to figure out how to make a frame. Its actually very easy. It starts with a frame like the one below. I got this at Goodwill for $3.99. A little pricey, but much cheaper (and more fun!) than buying the one of these at a store.


I took the frame apart, cleaned the glass, and got rid of the picture in the frame. I started by painting the wood frame a brown color. It wasn't quite as dark as I had hoped, so I did a topcoat with a black. The finished product was a black-brown color.



I then melted a candle. You can use any cheap candle, but it does need to have white wax. I took the melted wax and dripped it over the picture frame. I spread it with my fingers and a napkin. It was quite thick.


I then painted two coats of white paint over the wax. As you can see, it is still rough-looking.



The last thing I did was take some sandpaper to smooth it out. The wax makes it very easy to sand. The black-brown color shows through quite nicely. I found a quote that I liked, printed it up and put it in the frame.



This project was super easy, and I have to say I love the frame! You can try different color top-coats - a light yellow, blue, or pink would look lovely in this style. I'm not very attached to the quote I put in the frame, I am going to be looking for something else to go inside this picture frame. Any ideas?

2 comments:

Andrea, said...

Fun are you making good use of your week without Dave by doing projects? :o)

Heidi said...

I am impressed and inspired! Sounds like a fun project!! Keep up the crafty inspiration ok! ; )