{A Weekend DIY Project}

I never used to be a crafty person. In fact, I pretty much avoided doing anything remotely crafty during my entire childhood and adolescence. What changed? 2 Words: Wedding (and) Budget. You see, while planning our wedding last year, I became obsessed with reading wedding blogs, particularly about how people would do DIY (do it yourself) projects in order to save money on wedding details, so, naturally, I decided why not do some  DIY wedding projects myself, it can’t be that hard, right? Well, it turns out being crafty is just a bit harder than it looks, but after 3 chalkboards, escort card displays, flip flop baskets, dinner menus, and about a million aluminum can tea lights, I must admit that I’m a bit addicted!

During the wedding process, I came to terms with the fact that I’d never be the next Martha Stewart or anything, but as long as I don’t expect perfection, I’m usually mostly satisfied with the way things turn out.

This DIY project was inspired by a piece of $3 wrapping paper I’d had my eyes on for quite some time at a cute little stationary store (who also happened to do our wedding invitations!), Paper Sky, and the lack of a cute frame at Aaron Brothers in the size I needed (love their penny sale!).

I had never distressed a picture frame before, but I figured it would be an easy stepping stone for other projects I’ve been wanting to do. And it’s pretty easy to fix if you mess up!

So I biked down to the local hardware store and grabbed the materials I needed: grey and white paint, and sandpaper. The store was out of regular white paint, so I ended up buying spray paint instead–I wouldn’t recommend using spray paint if you have a wood with a lot of grain but since my frame was already smooth and glossy, the spray paint worked just fine.

Oh, and you also need some wax–I just used an old candle.

After gathering all of my supplies, I first lightly sanded my picture frame to help the paint adhere more easily. Then, I painted it my first color–grey.

After letting the paint dry for about 45 minutes, I rubbed wax on the newly painted frame in order to prevent the two layers of paint from sticking together. Then, I painted the frame with the white paint and let it dry for another 45 minutes.

Now comes the fun part–distressing! When the paint has completely dried, carefully sand your frame to reveal the grey paint below and the original wood color. Sand the frame more where more wear would normally occur such as the corners and edges. Note–make sure you sand outside or in the garage cause it gets messy!

Then just dust off the frame, insert the piece of artwork–or wrapping paper in my case!–and hang up your creation on the wall!

Do you like DIY projects?