crafting catch up - pt. one

I did a couple of crafts a while back and am just now getting to post about them! They are super quick and easy and are a great way to incorporate a little bit of a "shabby chic" feel to your home. Another bonus, I was able to up-cycle things I already had, yay! Let's get to the details....

It was about TWO YEARS ago when I was last at Ikea. I was meandering through the mega store and nearing the exit with nothing in my hands. I had nearly accepted the fact that the shopping adventure had been a total failure when I came across this set of three plain, wooden picture frames. They were incredibly cheap...maybe two dollars at the most. I figured I could do SOMETHING with them, and better yet, I wouldn't leave the store empty handed!

Fast forward to April of this year, and I had still had the set of frames. In their wrapping. Tucked away in some obscure drawer in my house. I figured it was time to decide if I was ever going to do anything with them, or if I should just ditch them. I suddenly had a fun and easy idea of how to transform these incredibly boring frames into something I would actually hang on my wall or set around my room. Here's what transpired...

My mom and I have a thing for scrapbooking. Neither one of us have done anything in a while, but we have this GIANT tub that is full of supplies. Paper, stickers, ribbon, lace, stamps, various cutting utensils, frames, borders, you name it, and it's probably in this bin. So, I dug through it all to find the supplies I thought I would need for the ensuing project. The supplies I used were:

Scrapbooking Paper

Mod Podge

Paper Cutter

Foam Paint Brush

Popsicle Stick

Scissors

Now, once you have all the supplies, you simply mod podge the scrapbook paper to the frames to spruce them up a bit! Follow the directions below for a relatively easy step-by-step process!

First, set the frame on the scrapbook paper to measure out how much paper you will need to cover the entire frame, like I did below. I placed the frame in the lower right hand corner and made sure to leave a couple inches of paper around the edges of the frame to wrap around. Then, I made marks on the paper so I new where to cut.

Once the paper is cut to the correct size, you'll be ready to mod podge! I love mod podge because you can use it for SO MANY PROJECTS! For this project, you want to paint a thin layer of mod podge on the FRONT of the frame.

Once this is done, you will set the frame face down onto the BACK of the scrapbook paper and press firmly. Then flip it over so you can see the patterned side of the paper. Use the popsicle stick to spread out any bumps or bubbles. Once the paper is smoothed onto the frame, flip it back over so the frame is face down and you see the white side of the scrapbook paper. Now, you will need to cut into the middle, so you will be able to wrap the paper around the inside of the frame. Poke a whole in the middle of the paper and cut a square out. Like this:

Finish this step by cutting diagonal slits in the corners. This is to help wrap the paper around the inside of the frame. Paint a thin layer of mod podge on the inside slits of paper and wrap them around the frame. Once you have done this to all four slits, paint one more layer of mod podge over all of them. Your frame should look like this:

Do those exact same steps for the outer areas of paper. Slit the corners, paint a layer of mod podge on the white side of the paper, fold over the frame, and paint one more layer over the patterned side of the paper.

You shouldn't have to worry about any un-covered wood, as no one will be able to see it. If you are a perfectionist, just mod podge scraps of the same paper onto the back so that no wood is showing. The final project will look like this....

I made two other frames as well. I even mod podged lace and pearls onto the front. Take a look!

What do you think?