Framed Chicken Wire Photo "Tack Board"

I've been quiet here because I've been working on projects and have a couple still in the works. But I have finished one...well three, actually. But they were the same thing. So here it is.

Waaaay back in April, I came across a picture on pinterest (shock!) that caught my interest. I clicked through and found it on this fun blog.

Those instructions were a little more than I could do at the moment seeing as I don't have power tools. So I made it my own.

I started looking for fun, fancy, vintagey frames. I wanted one that was pretty thick (wide?) and was for 16x20" pictures...so about 20x24". I started looking way back in April. I had several birthdays/events coming up that I wanted to make something special for. But because I am cheap, er thrifty, I didn't want to pay full price--or anything more than $10 for each frame.

Yeah, by the time I found frames, each of those three birthdays/events had already passed. Better late than never, right? I decided that I was just extending the celebration....um, yeah.

Then a couple of weeks ago I finally found $50 frames for $10! I picked up one to buy (it was marked down to $18--I was getting tired of not finding anything I liked--and I liked these), but then when I realized it was only $10, I went and bought the other two--which was great because I needed three total. :)

I forgot to take a picture of the frames before I spray painted them, but they were originally a dark brown with a hint of gold. Pretty, but not the color I wanted. Yay for spray paint!

Here's a picture when it was mostly done.

The color is Rustoleum's Heirloom White. It's a favorite right now. I taped off the back a bit so the edges would have crisp lines on it. The backs of the frames were silver and I wanted to keep it that way.

The frames came with hangy-things on the back so I got brave and removed them (they were in the way of the wire and the fabric. But I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to put them back in. Don't worry. I figured it out.

I got the smallest roll of chicken wire from Home Depot and cut a piece that was a little smaller than the outer edge of the frame. I first tried to staple it using a staple gun to the very inside edge of the frame (where the glass sits), but the staples I got were too long and poked through the front of the frame. Oops! Fortunately I realized the problem pretty quick so there were only a few spots. I re-spray painted them to try to cover it up a bit.

So I started stapling around the middle of the back of the frame.

I started at the corners, pulling the opposite corner, so it was tight. Then I stapled in the middle of each edge, while pulling the opposite side to keep it tight. Once the middle of each side was stapled, I stapled each side while pulling it tightly.

 

I tried to keep the staples in the thickest part of the frame (see above problem) which was also close to the inside edge. So I trimmed off the excess wire so the fabric would cover it up once that was tacked down. 

 

There were some nasty sharp pieces left from when I cut it down so I just bent them over so they wouldn't poke out. 

 

I learned a valuable lesson. Using a staple gun so that the staples are actually in all the way and flush with the wood is hard. Or maybe it is just for me. My wrists were not happy with this project. And I need to work on my staple gun skills. Good thing most of them are covered up and the ones that aren't are on the back. 

Moving on.....I picked out some fat fabric quarters in patterns and colors I thought the recipients might like, ironed them to perfection (which is saying something because I actually despise ironing--this just shows how much I LOVE the three recipients...I even ironed for them. It has nothing to do with my OCD for perfection) and then used a staple gun to attach the fabric to the back of frame, over the chicken wire. Again, stapling opposite corners and then middles to keep it taught.

 

I then cut a piece of cream felt just larger than the piece of fabric (about 19"x23"). I found the holes where the hangy-things screwed into the wood and punched holes in the colored fabric and the felt. It made re-attaching them much easier. I then stapled that to the frame. Yeah, there were a lot of staples.

 

But the felt is great. It keeps the wire from scratching up the wall behind it, should that be an issue. The printed fabric is just a thin cotton that would probably fall apart if you sneezed too hard.

 

Once that was done, I screwed the hangy-things (there has got to be another--better-- word that I totally can't think of right now) back into the frame using the holes I had poked. Made it super easy.

 

Ta Da!

 

 

I put this against the wall to admire my handy work and decided, that while this is cute, it needed to be funner. I like to give fun gifts and so I thought this frame needs a party on it. So I made one for each of my recipients.

 

It took a just few minutes perusing each of their facebook pages to find  fun pictures to attach to show the potential of their new decor item. It worked. :)

 

Alyssa's:

 

 

Detail pic of the banner and little flowers glued to mini clothespins. So adorbs. :)

 

 

 

For my momma: It has pics of us and her grandbabies. Also super adorbs. For the banner, I used some paint chips that I found left over from a different project a few years ago. They were convenient and perfect.

 



 

For Monica: Yeah, her kid is so adorable!

 



 

I was going to wrap each of them, but then I ran out of time when I was going to give Lys her frame and just tied some tulle around with a big fluffy bow. I liked it and did it to the other two frames too.

 





 

Monica's frame was a birthday present. And her birthday was in APRIL. I felt guilty. So I made a little tag to attach to her frame. Just so she knew this was actually a VERY belated present. 

 

 

I loved the frame so much that I really wanted to keep each of them and hang them all up in my room. But I resisted. :)

 

However, that doesn't mean that I won't make a GIGANTIC one for me. I do have a lot of chicken wire left....