Frumpy Frames turned Fun & Fancy

I love pictures and I love picture frames. But if you came to my house before last week you would be like, "really Amy?"

Here is my problem, we have been in transition for over 3 years in this house, we are finally to a point where I feel like I can "move in" and so I have been planning and pulling out all my old frames from our first apartment, and even college years. And guess what? I hate them. They are boring and plain, just like our couches and our walls. (also a work in progress)

Last winter a neighbor came over and when I was complaining about the way our family room looked, she agreed and said it does have a "Bachelor Pad" feel. So I started working on some new ideas, my friend suggested this blog a while ago, and I fell in love, just with everything, I love her style and her talent, and I think I could get away with some of the things on here with Kory. (He is surprisingly very opinionated about home decor). Luckily because of our bathroom remodel we did ages ago, he has put a little more trust in me when it comes design and our home, and now that I am the one here 24 hours a day with our son, I think he understands I need to feel at peace...or at least I like to pretend he understands that.

So what I did was, I adapted two of her wreath ideas to make these two frames, and LOVED how they turned out, and the best part they were super duper cheap! I bought 1/4 yard of fabric for each frame and still had AMPLE amount of fabric left over for future projects. And since the frames where ones I already had, even better! (Actually they were cheap dollar store frames I bought ages ago) I just bulked them up a bit with cardboard and covered them with fabric! Easy-peasy-fabric-pleasy!

Before:One was white one was black

After:
Ruffle Frame

Super soft "Nona Wreath" inspired Frame

I just loved how they turned out. They are not as sturdy as say a wood frame, but way cheaper, and I wont be heart broken or breaking the bank when I decide its time to toss them.

But the frame I am most proud of is this one.

I just wish I would have taken pictures of it for the steps. But you know me, not so good at taking pictures along the way... But if you want to do something similar here is a quick tutorial!

Here is the before picture:Here is the After!

Some simple steps...
1. MEASURE- I measured the frame I was fitting it to.

2. DRAW IT OUT - I created this design in Adobe Illustrator, and then cut it out on to cardboard. But really you could just draw it out on the cardboard, then cut it out with with scissors or a knife. You can print my design here if you like this look.

3. CUT IT OUT - I have a program that cuts cardboard from my designs so it did the work for me for this one, but the other frames it kept messing up, so I ended up doing those by hand. Sometimes I think that is the best method because you use less materials from machine mishaps. .

4. REPEAT - Cut out same design with a piece of Scrapbook Paper. (or if you are super clever, glue before you cut then you only have to cut once?!)

6. GLUE - Then I glued the paper to cardboard with a good spray glue, I use Scotch brand.

5. ANTIQUE - Then I "Antiqued" the edge, you could do this a billion ways, but I used the stamp pad and stamp sponge method, so simple and great results every time. For this particular frame I did both black and white ink.

6. MODGE-PODGE - Once I had that the way I wanted, I added a very light layer of Modge-Podge.

7. GLUE AGAIN - Glue that baby to your frame and TADA! You have a unique frame that fits you and your family perfectly.

Our new Family room Collage (still a work in progress)

I had a lot of fun with this project and I love how it made our home more us, I am not 100 percent finished with the wall collage, I still have the two big frames to re-finish, but I just can't decide what color to paint them until we paint the wall behind them, so this is how they will be.

The Gold frame was actually Kory's grandmothers, isn't it just stunning?! I really love it... Which is why I think I am having a hard time refinishing it. But when I do I will make sure I post about it! I am not a huge gold fan, but even that frame is growing on me. But since our family room is blues, grey and black, I don't think it goes very well.

And I plan on refinishing that brown one in the corner. We got it for our wedding, and my husband has been wanting to ditch it for a long time, (we all know how he feels about the color Brown) I just need to buckle down and make a decision. It may be white, if I paint the wall light blue, or they may be light blue, if I paint the wall Grey.

Happy framing!

I also posted this project on this great Blog that I started reading today "the Shabby Nest" she as well as many others have some really great ideas on projects its a pretty good resource. So check it out!