Friday, April 16, 2010

What to do with an unfinished wood frame

I discovered unfinished wood frames a couple years ago. If you're looking for some decorating ideas for your kiddos room they are a very inexpensive option. There are different sized frames and are usually only a couple of dollars.

While at the scrapbook store a while back I found these little cards. I had absolutely no use for them, but I was drawn in by the color - I loved the color in these, and I loved the little sayings on them. Most scrapbook stores have an abundance of this type of thing - sets of paper, doodads, little carstock sayings all in coordinating prints and colors.
Eventually I thought of framing them, I thought they would be perfect in a baby's or little kid's room.
I found a set of 4 - 4x6 wooden frames at Joann for $7.99 (though I used my 40% coupon, if you pay full price for anything at Joann, you're doing something wrong), then picked out some acrylic paint to match.

My painting method for these was pretty simple. I used 3 or 4 coats and then sanded the edges down. I used a clear matte sealant spray to finish and protect them. You can find this spray at craft stores as well, just make sure to use it outdoors.

I used cream cardstock for the backing and very lightly inked the edges of the sayings with brown ink. Like really lightly - I used my finger to dab the ink and then lightly rubbed the edges. Then I used scrapbook adhesive to glue them on. That's it.
This is another project I did a few years ago, so the pictures are dated and the frames are a bit scratched up (my boys have a talent for knocking things off walls), but I used the same wooden frames as above.
I have this hanging in the room my boys share. The big letters are from Joann and are cardboard (I can't remember the price, maybe $3 or $4 each?). It would be cute to do a whole wall of the big letters with your child's entire name, with coordinating picture frames, but I just went with their initials since it would have been pricey with their names having 8 letters each.

These frames are fun to play with since you can do so much with them (and they are so inexpensive). You can pick out printed paper and cut it to fit the frame and then modpodge it on there. Or add some 3-d elements like silk flowers or even buttons. Whatever you like, you can even get your little one's involved to paint and they can be given as gifts for grandmas for Mother's day coming up.

5 comments:

  1. This is great to know wooden mailboxes are part of the wooden frames.

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  2. Very helpful information, its my lucky day i found the right site. Hope to find such helpful information in future as well. I like the idea of wooden frames.

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  3. It was a pleasure reading through your page. I was extremely impressed with the way things were explained
    Thank you.

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  4. It has been a good experience landing on this site, finally i got something that i was looking for, Many many many thanks. hope to read more in the the future.

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  5. Unfinished Wood Frames are certainly a great idea as I like the rustic appeal of theses frames. However I can also add some colors to make it appealing to others while gifting. Wow great ! I can keep some as it shall appeal to my décor. Thank you for the great idea !

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