Some Before & Afters

Here are some projects I've done that were simple transformations.

I found these frames at a garage sale for $1 each. I was ecstatic to get such a great price since they are really huge nice frames with a matte.

I used one in my living room with our family picture. I spray painted the frame black and the matte white. Turned out just like I wanted.

I also got a 16"x20" picture for free from Shutterfly. Some coupon for $20 that came with my girls' school pictures (that I didn't even buy). A huge picture and frame and the whole thing was a buck. Can't beat it!

The other large frame went in my bedroom. A honeymoon picture, when we wore matching clothes.

Love it...don't think we've done that since our honeymoon. You know, where every honeymooning couple in Hawaii is wearing their matching silky, floral patterned outfits.

I think this table is actually a plant stand, but it was the perfect size for the little corner in my entryway.

  

It had rings on the top and looked pretty rough, but nothing spray paint can't fix.

I was kind of concerned about how the top would turn out, but by just covering up the rings it works fine.  When you put stuff on top of it you don't really notice the paint since you can still see most of the marble top.
I really liked it until my toddling 8 month old decided to pull it over.  Very thankful it didn't hurt him, but moved it for now.

This was some random wall decoration that my Mom brought me. 
If you can see it amongst the mess it's laying on.  I had already started painting the left side.

 It was sitting in my garage sale pile because I didn't want it either, then it hit me.

I have been needing a Christmas card holder and thought this might work.

I spray painted the whole thing green and the flowers red.  Let me tell you, this thing was pretty ugly even spray painted...or just not my style.

 I also spray painted about 30 clothespins green.  I think you could skip this step, but I wanted them to really blend in.  I cut little strips of scrapbook paper I had and used Mod Podge to adhere them to the tops of the clothespins.

 This is what it looked like with my old Christmas cards on it, because I had to test it out before I ever got Christmas cards coming in this year.

 When I got cards this year, this was perfect.  I could even use the clothespins for multiple cards.
I like that we can see them all throughout Christmas time.
I love that people still actually send out cards!

One last makeover.
I found a couple of these sconces at Goodwill for about a dollar.

Gave them a couple coats of black glossy spray paint and now they hang on my wall.
 Not really sure what to do with them...but there they are for now.

Canvas Pictures

I can't remember how long I've been wanting to do these with my kids' pictures, but I finally did it.

One reason it took so long was because I needed some good pictures. I took some when we did family pics this Fall and really love them.

If you want to make your own, this is what you will need:

Canvases

Black paint (I used acrylic)

Pictures

Mod Podge - glossy

About the canvases...I used the 2 inch thick ones because that's what I like, but used the thinner ones for a set for the in laws. Both look nice, just depends on what you like. You can usually find canvases for at least 50% off at Michael's. I happened to get mine for 70% off during the holiday one day deals. You just want to make sure to get the canvases that are wrapped all the way around the edges and stapled on the back and not the sides. Try to get the canvas the same size as your pictures or maybe a little smaller.

I printed my 5x7 pictures at Sam's for 38 cents each.

I actually used real Mod Podge for these, since I wanted them to be nice. Usually I would use the homemade version of Mod Podge for things, but lately people have said on certain things it turns out looking milky on their projects. Of course I used my coupon and bought it for 40 or 50% off at Joanns.

Now on to how to make them. I painted all of the sides of my canvases and a little up and over the edge onto the front. This way if your picture isn't quite perfect, you won't really be able to tell. I ended up doing two coats.

While that dries you can trim your pictures to fit the canvas if you need to. Not all canvases are created equal so you may want to lay your picture down and check on every one.

Once the paint is dry, put a coat of Mod Podge on your canvas and then lay your picture on top. I went ahead and then did a coat on top of the picture also. Let that dry and then do another coat. I brushed the first coat vertical and the second horizontal.

 

I took this picture so you can see the texture a little bit.  It kind of gives it that canvas look on top of the picture. I also went ahead and put a thin coat around the edges since some had gotten on them. It was glossy Mod Podge so you could see on the sides where it didn't have any.

In the end I probably spent about $3 for each one, which includes the price of Mod Podge that I'll use for many more projects.

I really love how these turned out. Have fun making your own!