Empty Picture Frame Wall Collage

My latest project is to make a collage from empty picture frames.  I have a space on my bedroom wall that I think will be just perfect for it, so of course I had to start researching some ideas to get inspiration.  Here are some pictures that inspired me:

The first one is very close to what I am thinking of doing since my bedroom walls are a soft sage green color.  I planned on having all my frames in antique white, in different shapes and sizes.  The criteria for the frames was that they had to have a vintage feel to them, have a variety of interesting patterns  and they had to be frames that I already owned, purchased from garage sales, discount stores, or even better- curbside finds.  The more inexpensive, the better.  I didn't care what color or material they were made from, as I was going to spray paint them all the same color - Heirloom White.

I started  by going through my own large collection of frames and choosing the ones that I thought were the most interesting.  The next step was to make frequent visits to Value Village , Salvation Army and Goodwill stores.  Most of the frames I found were from $1.00 to $5.00.  Some had mirrors in them which I removed, and some had tacky art-work - but I was able to look past this and see their potential.

Here's some of  my hodge-podge collection of frames before spray painting

And after spray-painting......

Once I had all my frames, I removed all the backing material from them, and laid them out on a tarp.  I decided to  do a chippy paint look on them, so that some of the gold would show through after sanding.  I rubbed a plain white candle in random areas on each frame, and on the edges, as well as anywhere there was a raised decorative detail.  Then I sprayed all the frames with Rustoleum Heirloom White spray paint. When the frames where completely dry ( at least overnight)  I sanded or scratched the paint off the areas that I had rubbed with wax.  The wax makes it really easy to  remove the paint and show some gold , without sanding off the underlying gold colour.

When all my frames were done, I laid a bath towel down on my dining room table.  I made sure the towel was the approximate size of the area on my wall that I was hanging the collage.  Then I began experimenting with different layouts.  I kept rearranging the frames until I was happy with the arrangement.  Then it was onto the wall to hang and admire.

Here's the finished product:                                         

I'm pretty happy with the result, but I think I would have used a few more larger frames if I could have found some that I liked in my $5.00 per frame budget.  The good thing about this project is that I can easily change up a few of the frames, or add more if  I want.

Hope you like the result.  Until next time.

Chalk Painted Antique Sewing Cabinet

Don't you just love it when you finally find inspiration to makeover something that you've been struggling with  ( figuratively speaking) for ages.  That's exactly what happened to me last week when I was looking at a posting on facebook from Annie Sloan.  She suggested we take a look at this awesome antique sewing machine makeover from " The Empty Nest"- using Annie Sloan Chalk paint, of course.  Now, you'll know if you've read one of my more recent posts that I recently discovered how to make Chalk Paint myself

 ( a quick recap on that later). I also happen to own an antique sewing machine in a cabinet, exactly like the one that  " The Empty Nest" did, so I was doubly excited.

The picture below is the cabinet that inspired me- she called her "Coco", after Coco Chanel, since her cabinet doesn't have the sewing machine in it anymore, and Coco Chanel prefered hand sewing to machine sewing.

 I've had my sewing machine for 18 years, and never did anything to fix it up. And believe me, it was in a terrible state. It is truly an antique (about 100 years old), once belonging to a great- aunt on a farm.  That sewing machine made all the clothing for a family of 12, as well as many relatives and was very well used and loved.  I put it in my living room, covered the badly scratched and worn top with a crocheted runner and  displayed my collection of antique flow- blue china on and over it. 

Not bad, but I am totally in love with " The Empty Nest" makeover, so I decided to spend this Labour Day weekend  making mine look just as awesome.  My cabinet  is definately in worse shape, but I was up for the challenge.  First order of business was to  head over to Home Depot and pick up the supplies ( or in my case just pick up the supplies after work since I work at Home Depot).

Here's what you need :

*Chalk Paint  in 2 colors ( recipe will follow)
Sandpaper
Painter's masking tape
Paint brush
Flat black spray paint- I used Tremclad Rust paint
Plastic drop sheets
Wood glue or Weldbond ( to fix the veneer that was coming loose on my cabinet)
Furniture paste wax

*Recipe for home made Chalk Paint- equal parts latex paint and Plaster of Paris.You might have to add a little water if it's too thick, which mine was, since the latex paint I had was old and had thickened up a lot. Yup, that's it. A  blogger friend of mine saw my posting about making your own Gesso, which is chalk paint also, and gave me this even easier recipe.  And it really works. She got the recipe from an antique dealer.  Gotta love bloggers- we're very inquisitive people.  Only costs $5.00 for a large box of plaster of paris and you can mix it with whatever color latex paint you want.  If it get's too thick while you're painting, just keep adding water as you go to thin it to the consistency of thick cream.

Next I called my neighbour ( a Fireman) to help me carry the machine outside- LOL.  It weighs a ton since the original Iron Lady sewing machine was still inside.  Once she was safely on my driveway, I vacuumed cobwebs and dust off every bit of her, then I hosed her down.  It was a very hot day, so the water dried really fast.  I'm sure I broke some antique refinishing rules by doing this, but it's for my own personal use- so- OH WELL!!!!!

Here's what she looks like before the transformation:

As you can see, she's in pretty rough shape, but still a very beautiful piece of nostalgia.  I'll be removing the sewing machine from the cabinet and cleaning her up too, but that will be another post, so stay tuned for that.



You can see how badly worn the top is, and some of the veneer is coming loose. And the iron bottom is pretty rusted.

After wrapping the cabinet in a plastic drop sheet to protect it , I gave the bottom 2 coats of flat black spray paint, and it looks 100% better already. And I have to say, I absolutely love the the Rustoleum ergonomic sprayer for the spray can- it really makes spray painting easy, and saves your hands from cramping.  I definately recommend it- only about $7.00 at Home Depot.

Here is what she looks like with her first coat of home-made chalk paint ( Behr Cottage White mixed with Plaster of Paris), and a piece of repurposed wood nailed over the empty space where I believe a drawer once was.

I added a cut-out from some paintable wallpaper and filled the holes with spackle.  I painted the drawers and edges of the cabinet, as well as the cut-outs with French Silver by Behr( also mixed with Plaster of Paris) .  Then I distrressed it and waxed it with MinWax Finishing wax in natural.

  Lots of buffing after that.

 And ..................

VOILA!!!!!!!

Meet "Mademoiselle Chloe"

I  A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E-L-Y LOVE HER!!!!!!!!

Here are some close-ups of some of the detail.

I couldn't be happier with how it turned out, and I am now a Chalk Paint lover.  Of course, I will not be buying any Annie Sloan Chalk paint since it is so easy and inexpensive to make yourself. 

Until next time.