My Picture Frames

It's a DIY people!!!  I love them!!

This is the view of my hallway.  Half of these frames were white, as were on the walls before the makeover.  I bought a few more at thrift shops and I had a few in the basement... just waiting for a cool project like this one.  

First I removed the glass (you won't need the glass) and the backs.  Next I sanded some of them that had a glossy finish.  Next I spray painted them black, what else??  I then took the backs and cut out cardboard from any old box, the same size as the backs.  I cut the burlap1 inch larger then the cardboard.  I folded the burlap over the cardboard and hot glued it to the back.  I only glued it to the back of the cardboard so you can't see the glue, any discolored areas or hardness of the glue.  I bought the burlap at Joann's with 40% off coupon.  3 yards came to about $8.   Because I won't be using the old backs I had to find something to use as" hangers".  What to do??  I took soda can tabs and bent them out a little and hot glued them on.

The backs should look like this!

  You might want to wait on adding the hangers until you have the photos in the frames so you know the direction of the frame, if it will going the long way or side ways.  Once the paint is dry and you don't need to do any more touch ups, put the backs in the frames.   Please keep in mind the burlap and cardboard aren't acid free, so I took the photos I wanted and scanned them.  I didn't want to use the original pictures because they could be ruined by the acid.  I had to edit all the photos.  It took awhile to find the right photos and them crop, center and print each one in black and white.  I bought upholstery pins at Menard's.  They have containers of 30 pins for $.99.  They have brass, antique brass and silver.  I chose the antique brass.  The pin part is very long, so I took my wire cutters and cut off a quarter of the pin, other wise the pin will stick to far out and make your frame stand away from the wall.  Next I used 4 pins from each of the photos, the arranging of the photos in the frames is a bit of a challenge but worth the time to get it right.   

 

Finished product!!  Your asking how did you spray paint this frame without losing the Sisters plaque?  Well I couldn't get it off without ruining the frame and I couldn't tape it off, too many curves.  So I took car wax, smeared it on heavy over the entire plaque.  I was careful not to get it on the frame.  I put the wax on thick, I didn't wait for it to dry. I just sprayed the frame as I did the others.  When the paint was dry, I took a paper towel and wiped off the plaque.  The paint came right off with the car wax.  I love it!!  There is scratches on the left side of the plaque, well it came that way.  I bought it last week at the thrift shop for $1.  It wasn't perfect but I really liked the frame.  I'm not that fussy.  Now for the people in the frame.  Well the bride is me, 21 years ago and the the maid of honor is my very bestest friend.  Some how we should have been sisters, but god had different plans as to who our parents were going to be!!!  We have been close friends for nearly 30 years and we are still close!

Here is the H for our last name!

Yup it's not centered, but oh well.  My daughter used a Sharpie Marker to make this H.  I like it!!  So what if it's not perfect!!!

Now I just have to figure out how to get my daughter to stop slamming her door, which is causing the frames to be crooked!!!!  Kids!!!