DIY Frame Tutorial

 As promised here is the tutorial for the picture frame I made here. As I said before, after I put the large picture on my wall it just didn't look right to me. So I thought that a nice big chunky frame would be the perfect fix. 

I went back to the hardware store and picked out my molding, came home and got right to work. I wanted the frame to sit perfectly around the picture so what I did was hold my molding right up to the picture and measured slightly more than the length of the picture on the molding. You want to make sure the frame is slightly bigger than the picture itself so that it can hang directly on top of the picture...I'm talking only a 1/4" difference. I made a 45 degree cut on the ends of each piece. This method worked perfectly and only took me about 15 min to make all of the cuts. 

 

Now I assembled the frame. I figured since the frame wasn't going to be holding anything up that it would be light enough to use wood glue. So I just stuck a small amount of wood glue between each corner and held it in place. Wood glue dries fairly quick so I just sat there and held each piece until it was dry enough to move on to the next corner. Once the whole frame was assembled I flipped it over and put a big glob of glue on the back of each corner to make it a bit more durable. I might go back and add some brackets to make it even more secure but for now this works. 

 

Once the glue was dry I took some brackets I picked up at the hardware store and attached them to the back of the frame. The nails are so small that I had to use pliers to nail them in. I put 2 of these on the back of the frame.

 

The last step is to caulk the edges and paint which I haven't done yet, I hate that part :) I then used some small nails and hung this frame directly on top of the picture and voila...you are done!

Now I want to add some wainscoting along that wall to finish it. But that is another project for another day :)

Linking up to:
katherines Corner
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Pinterest Copycat

If you guys are anything like me then you are addicted to pinterest! The minute I sign in I am pinning the most beautiful and amazing things. I then find myself trying out those things as soon as I can. Some of my favorite recipes come from there that I probably make WEEKLY!

I found a few projects recently that I just couldn't resist trying in my home. The first was the DIY ruffle curtain found here. A boy, a girl and a pug gives you a detailed tutorial on how to make these inexpensive curtain. Really these were pretty easy, it just took some time to hem all the pieces and sew them together. But I love how they turned out. Before I had just plain white curtains and sewed the ruffled strips right to the existing curtain.

I love ruffles but was afraid it was a bit too feminine. So I tried to tone down the ruffles and I think it turned out perfect for the look I was going for. 

It adds a lot more character to some boring old curtains. And the best part is it only cost me $10 and I feel like I have totally new curtains:)

Another project I tried was "frosting" my front window. 7th house on the left has a free pattern that you can download to make your own frosted window out of contact paper. The end results are amazing!

This project took some time. I did it while watching an episode of The Bachelor :) Each one of the Moroccan tiles was traced, cut and stuck on separately! I think that my scissor fingers suffer permanent damage from all the cutting, but it was totally worth it! I tried to get a picture of it outside but it was really sunny and a bit hard to see.I'm in love!

 

 The last project I did was probably my favorite. Sugar bee crafts shows you how to make an inexpensive giant picture. 

Basically what you do is take your photo to Office Max and have them print it in black and white. I got mine printed as 24x36. It only cost $4 so I got 2! One for my Living room and one for my sons room. Then you go to Home Depot and get a large piece of foam board. Mine only cost $7.50 and I was able to get 3 large pictures out of it. 

I cut it down to size using a box cutter and used spray adhesive to attach the photo. Mine had this silver lining on the back that was easily removed.

The edges were a bit rough, so I painted them black with craft paint. On my sons I added a ribbon border to cover the rough edge.

Once it was done I just used Velcro to hang it on the wall.

This is where normally you would be done but I wasn't satisfied with the "finished" look. To me it looked plain and like it was missing something...probably because my wall is big and empty.

 

So I made a big chunky frame to surround the picture and I love the finished project! It gives it such a custom look.

Stay tuned for a tutorial on how to make this frame. Its super easy I promise!!

Valentines Decor

Well I finally have a second to post some of my Valentines Day Decor. This is a holiday that I never really do much for, but now that my kids are getting a bit bigger its fun to decorate a little more than usual.

First up is my mantle. 

This year I added a new pennant garland. To learn how to make it click here.

I got the fabrics from Hobby Lobby 

and the the "Be Mine" sign I made from assorted papers last year.

To finish the mantle, I added on each side of the TV some flowers and candies.

I also changed a few items to my little side table. 

I have this Valentines printable available in my Etsy Store if you want to purchase it.

And lastly is our kitchen table.

I hung these cute hearts from our chandelier by ribbon.

As my center piece I have this cake on display. Its fake but everyone thinks it real :) I had a little kid the other day just sit and stare at it drooling...haha mean I know!

And that completes my Valentines decor. We have a few fun traditions for the big day but that I will share later!