The Discovery
Frames are fun. So fun they might be considered addictive, because who can resist transforming something with a simple coat of paint and a new subject?
I saw this frame out for the taking, very dusty - but with intact glazing (glass) in the front. Checking for intact glazing is crucial when getting free frames because people often discard frames with broken glass - which can be very dangerous to handle.
I saw this frame out for the taking, very dusty - but with intact glazing (glass) in the front. Checking for intact glazing is crucial when getting free frames because people often discard frames with broken glass - which can be very dangerous to handle.
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| The original found frame |
The framed subject matter of some olive oil and lavender, although gentle and cottage-style, was not my style, nor was the off-white (aged bone?) color of the frame. I did like the 'carving' detail around the frame edge though. I thought that with some new paint this could be made-over into something that might have a place in my home or office.
The only question was, gold paint or black? Hmmmmm.
The makeover
The first step in the makeover was to disassemble and clean the frame. The frame was nothing fancy, all the pieces were held in place with staples placed around the edge - these were easy to pull out using a pair of pliers.
After disassembly I wiped everything down with ammonia-based glass cleaner, and vacuumed around the edges of the frame to get rid of any stray fluff. I then carefully removed (peeled) the print from the back of the matting where it was glued on in such as way to not damage the matboard since I was planning on reusing it.
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| Staples that had to be pulled out to disassemble the frame |
After disassembly I wiped everything down with ammonia-based glass cleaner, and vacuumed around the edges of the frame to get rid of any stray fluff. I then carefully removed (peeled) the print from the back of the matting where it was glued on in such as way to not damage the matboard since I was planning on reusing it.
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| The pieces after disassembly |
The choice between black or gold paint was decided by one simple fact, I have A LOT of black paint on hand from when I painted this chair. It's not a pure black, but a softer dark grey-black. The picture below shows the frame after the second coat of paint.
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| Frame painted in Black Iron (custom mix) |
Although the two coats of paint slightly obscure the floral detail around the edge it is still visible enough to give a sense of texture. This is not a valuable frame, just simple pressboard, so I don't anticipate much close scrutiny.
After deciding on a photo to frame, I attached it to the back of the matboard with some art tape. Then I reassembled the whole thing and placed new staples around the edge. Since I wanted the staples to stick out from the edge of the frame back I held the staple gun up to a screwdriver that was positioned between the center of the staple gun and the side of the frame.
I also found two tiny screws and some old picture hanging wire to add to the back. This was necessary because I was changing the orientation of the image from portrait to landscape. The tiny screws seem like they would have been easy to screw into the back of the frame, but it was surprisingly dense. I ended up using an electric drill to make things easier on me. Yay power tools!
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| Tiny screws - to wrap picture wire around |
Below is a photo of the back of the frame after full reassembly and with new hanging wire added.
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| Ready for a new showcase |
The Conclusion
I love how this project turned out! The black frame and the white mat set off the photo of an ombre blue Christmas Tree Worm wonderfully. In case you are wondering what Christmas Tree Worms are, you can read more about them here. I had this photo printed from Costco's online photo store because you can get 8x10 prints for an AMAZINGLY CHEAP price of around $2 each.
Wall beauty for less that a cup of coffee? Yes please.
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| Beautiful blue Christmas Tree Worm parts |
Happy freestyling!