Empty Frame Gallery Wall

A couple weeks ago on one of my days off I was straightening up my craft room when I realized I had collected quite a few Goodwill frames.  I'd been buying them whenever I found one I liked, for this idea I'd had brewing around in my head.  I didn't think I had enough yet, but I took out the ugliness that was in each one of them and started laying them out (on my guest room floor - probably the smallest space I could have chosen).  And whadya know, but I think I had just enough to make an empty frame gallery wall!  Okay, okay, I know this isn't a new idea or anything, but what a cheap way to make a statement!

I measured the wall I wanted them on and started playing with different configurations.

Hmm, I liked starting with the two white ones in the middle and working out from there, but this arrangement left something to be desired.

I found the one on the bottom left in our under-the-stairs storage closet and added it.  A little better.

Hmm, the right side needs something else.

Almost there...

This is it!  Except I ended up hanging the brown one on the right horizontally.

Now for a couple coats of black spray paint on the ones that aren't already black.

I traced all of the frames onto kraft paper, cut them out and taped them up on the wall in the arrangement I decided on.  (An easier way would be to roll out a huge sheet of kraft paper, lay your frames on it and trace them in the design you want.  That way instead of having individual rectangles of paper to hang up on the wall, which always want to curl up and come off, you'd only have one sheet and wouldn't have to make sure they were all level and the spacing was correct, because you could do all that while you're tracing.)

I got out my hammer and pounded nails in where I had marked on the kraft paper, put the frames up, then stuck some poster putty in the bottom corners so they would stay straight, and voila!

I like the dimension the different frames give to the wall.  I stayed safe with black, but I think a turquoise or red would be fun too!

Total cost for this wall art:  $6 for the keys, and probably another $6 for all the frames.  Already had the spray paint.  $12 for a wall full of art - I'll take it!

Linking up with Sarah's Spray Paint Party!

Epic Quatrefoil Mirror Redo

Remember back in, um, October when I wrote this post?  Well, I am finally ready to reveal the makeover my fabulous quatrefoil mirror underwent!  Whew, was this the longest mirror makeover in history, or what??

Here she is in all her "before" glory.  Ugly brown paint, chipping everywhere (and not in a good way).

Hi, feet!

It was destined to be hung on this wall at the end of the hallway.  I never did like that picture frame there.

So right after Christmas (yes, you read that right) I took this bad boy downstairs and started the transformation.  I turned it over, took all of the little bitty screws out of the half-moon holder thingies...

And what do I find but the mirror is caulked all around with silicone and I can't get it out.  Boo!

Onto Plan B.

Cut up lots of little pieces of kraft paper and slip them behind the wood to protect the mirror!  Brilliant!  (Even if it did take foreva.)

I gave the wood a light sanding...

...then opened the white paint and went to work!

It needed a couple of coats to cover up that dark brown.  After it dried, I slipped all of the kraft paper out.  Note to self for future quatrefoil mirror redo:  take kraft paper out while paint is still wet.  It will save you a lot of hair-pulling.

And here's where she sat for four months!

Until I finally picked up some of these from Lowes.

5 minutes later and she was finally at home.

I apologize for the night-time picture but I knew if I didn't snap a pic right then, it would be another four months before you guys would see it!

I love it!  I think it fits the space much better than that tiny picture frame did.  And she will tie in beautifully with the laundry closet redo I'm planning (it's on the left in the above photo).

Craft Room: Creating a Custom Framed Cork Board

I've been needing a place to pin up my random thoughts and lists in my craft room. I had the perfect place above my desk, but I didn't want to go out and buy something because 1) cork boards can be expensive and 2) I wanted it to fit the space perfectly. So I bought a roll of cork and some red acrylic paint at HobLob, grabbed my Cutting Edge Stencils "Casablanca Allover" stencil that I won months ago from Lemon Tree Creations (thanks LTC girls!) - which is still destined to be used someday in the laundry closet - and went to work!

First, I used some painters tape to measure off the area I wanted my cork board to cover.

I taped down some kraft paper to protect my floors, cut the cork to the right size, and started stenciling! This is the first time I've ever stenciled anything and it went really fast. Such high impact for so little cost!

Here she is all done! But then I started thinking... hmm, this cork is awfully thin, I bet it's too thin to hold a pushpin. I tested it out and sure enough, unless I wanted tons of little holes in my wall If I ever decide to take this down, I was going to have to do something to remedy this problem. (Seriously Cork Board Manufacturers, what is the point of making cork too thin to hold a pushin?)

Enter:  foam core! I taped three sheets together, then used construction adhesive to glue the cork on top of it. Sorry, no pictures of that!

I removed the tape from the wall and used double-sided foam tape to adhere my fabulous new cork board. Then weeks went by...

Until the other day when I finally got Steven to help me drag some leftover molding* out of the basement. We measured it out and used a hand saw to cut it down. I bought the decorative squares at Lowes so I didn't have to do any mitered corners - so much easier, and cuter, I think! I spray painted all the molding white, attached it to the wall with more double sided foam tape (I didn't want to have to fill any nail holes!), and voila! You could see the unfinished edges of the cork so I just added some pink ribbon tacked on with thumbtacks, and a couple little flowers to tie the pink and red together.

Now I can pin things up to my heart's content! I just love it!

*In the US, the trim that goes around doors, on walls, etc is spelled "molding". In Australia, the UK and Canada, it's spelled "moulding". You wouldn't write "My favourite colour of moulding is white." You would write "My favorite color of molding is white." Just a little something that gets on my nerves because I see people spell it "moulding" all. the. time. We're Americans people - we don't put u's in unnecessary places! Okay, tirade over for today.