Christmas is coming and my Things to Do list seems to be growing by the day. I had the best of intentions this year on getting ahead and suddenly I am getting very, very behind - again. Friday I told you about the little wooden dolls I decided to make for Macie. My intention was to make everyone something this year - yeah, that's not going to happen. Better luck next year, right? I'm taking it one gift at a time and we'll see how far I get. That being said, I decided to try something new and different today. This is a brand new post. Yup, I am veering off our beloved Pinterest this one time.
Earlier this fall we went to the beach for a couple days with my husband's family. While we were there my sister in law and I got away for a couple hours to go shopping sans children... ahhh. We went into this one store that is sort of like the never ending store. Seriously, it goes on FOREVER. It starts as a Christmas shop on one side and ends up a souvenir shop all the way down on the other end and it has everything in between. In the midst of this vast abyss of a store, my sister in law saw a frame that she liked. After looking at it for a minute, I was determined I could make it. She laughed at me and told me I could make it but she'd have to buy it... but of course, she didn't. After thinking about it a little more, I decided I would make it. Can we talk about how shocked I was at how easy this project was?? I made the entire thing in one short nap time and that includes the drying time on the paint. This is a great gift. I may make a few more. If you are on my gift list, don't be surprised that you see one of these puppies wrapped up. If you know my sister in law ... shhhhhh.
Here's what you need -
Supplies:
11x14 Wooden Plaque (I got it from Joann's)
8x10 Plexi-glass (I got it at Lowes)
Acrylic Paint (I used two colors)
Drill, small multi-surface drill bit
Tack nails
Satin Ribbon
Hot Glue
If you follow us on Facebook you know I was asking about brown v. tan and I know I left a few people wondering what I was talking about and if I had lost my mind. I was talking about this frame. For some reason I couldn't decide on the color of this frame but finally I decided to go with the tan as the main color. It's really more like a linen, but let's not get technical. I painted two coats of paint on the plaque and let it dry. Once it was nice and dry, I used painters tape to make a stripe close to the bottom of the plaque. If you wanted to add a saying or name, I think it would look awesome. I went simple - a stripe. Make sure that you pull the tape before the paint is dry or it could pull the paint with it and who wants that??
After the paint was completely dry - I grabbed the plexi. There is a protective sheet on both sides of the plexi, leave it there. Trust me. Plexi is a funny thing, you can drill it but you have to be careful. If you drill too fast, it can melt or crack so you have to go slow. I taped down the plexi to make sure it stayed secure while I was drilling. After taping it down, I started at the bottom middle of the plexi and drilled and then measured out from there. I made a total of 9 holes. Drill the holes very slowly and go into the wood just slightly. This gives you a place to put the nail when you want to bang it in. After all the holes were drilled, I took off one side of the protective plastic, the side that would be facing the wood. Once you nail the plexi to the wood, it's a tad difficult/impossible to remove the plastic. Just saying. Now, just nail in the tack nails. Don't make them super tight or you won't be able to slip the picture into the frame -- I may or may not be speaking from experience. Again, just saying.
Here's the last step, it's a tough one - tie a bow. I am the worst at tying bows but after a couple attempts, I got one that looked okay. I put a very small dot of very hot glue in the middle and secured the knot and then secured the ends with another couple dots and then - TA DA! Done.
And to all you out there wondering, no, I am not giving my sister in law a frame with our family picture. I put a picture there for your benefit, but I don't know if she would really appreciate it. She has her own cute little girl to have framed! What about you? How many gifts are you making? Overwhelmed yet? Good Luck!!
