Altered Wooden Frames

Hi everyone!  Hope your day is going great.  Mine has been busy, to say the least, but busy is always great.

Today I am sharing a project that is near and dear to my heart.  I absolutely love dogs (and cats...and all animals, in general, lol!) and I made these special, altered wooden frames as gifts for my cousin who shares my love in all things furry.

These were made as a set of three to be hung side by side.  My cousin, John, is a bachelor (an "eligible" bachelor, by the way) and has an outdoor theme in his home, so I grabbed a paper stack dedicated to our furry friends entitled, The Pets Stack, by Die Cuts With a View, and chose my background papers accordingly.  These frames feature my cousin's furry family (from left to right), Jessie, Dagny and Polly.  Aren't they adorable?

I began this process with three raw wood frames that I found in the clearance bin at Michael's for a dollar each.  Before I did anything else, I stained the front and sides with wood stain.  Once the stain dried, I turned the frame upside down, laid it on top of the 12 x 12 patterned paper, and traced the inside opening.  I then cut the paper to fit.  In order to get good adhesion to the frame, I grabbed my Mod Podge, coated the entire front of the frame, and applied my patterned paper.  I then smoothed it out very carefully to avoid any air bubbles, much the way you would when wallpapering. 

At this point I borrowed my husband's file and rasp from his toolbox and began to rough up the edges all around the inside and outside of the frames.  This added a rustic feel, as well as filed off any paper hanging over the edges.  Once I had it adequately distressed, I coated the edges with a bit more Mod Podge to seal them, leaving the face of the frame clean.

This is where the fun began!  I tied twine around the frames in various places and attached Tim Holtz corners with hot glue.  My husband very kindly drilled holes through the frames and attached the three knobs I had found on clearance at Hobby Lobby.  He was careful to countersink the hardware on the back of the frame so it would lie flat against the wall.  From there, I inked all of the edges, inside and out, as well as inking the twine here and there to add a bit of age.

Around each knob I hung Tim Holtz charms, being careful to choose the perfect statement unique to each dog.  In this case, Dagny's charm says "cherish".  I then opened my bin of silk flowers, dug out some acorns I had found on a nature walk one day and, with glue gun in hand, had the time of my life decorating the frames!  Incidentally, my husband nervously watched over me, making sure I didn't make them too girlie, lol!

The Milk Bones on each frame are real Milk Bones with a coat of Mod Podge over top and inked with various Tim Holtz inks until they looked perfectly toasted.  I probably could have toasted them in the oven, lol!

Jessie's frame has an "inspire" charm hanging from her knob.  She's also got little acorns here and there.  The twine on this frame is wound around the frame vertically.

The knob and hanging charm on Polly's frame say "destiny" and are placed on the opposite side.  As you can see below, the twine was actually wrapped in an "x" pattern through the center and around the other side.

I used Rub 'n Buff  Metallic Finish to adjust the patina of the metal knobs so they would more closely  blend together.  The corkscrew twine was made by tightly wrapping it around a skewer and heating it in my oven at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes.

I love the various flowers, berries and leaves, with acorns mixed in here and there--it's all so earthy and gives these frames a true outdoor feel.

And, the Tim Holtz corners not only serve a decorative purpose, but also further secure the paper to the frame on each corner.

Last, but certainly not least, these frames did not come with glass, so my husband was kind enough to search through his stash of plexiglass and cut three pieces to fit each one.  I used glazing points to snug up the plexi and sealed the edges with hot glue.

Well, that just about does it for this project.  I hope you enjoyed my altered wooden frames.  I'll be back again soon with another project!

Merilee