painfully fun...

So I finally did it. I found something I wanted to refurbish.

I originally thought I would love to do a large piece of furniture, like say...a dresser I so desperately need. But then The Man ever so kindly pointed out that that sort of project is best done in the summer time, in the seclusion of your (or someone else's in my case, since I don't have one) garage. I don't agree...my back porch will do just fine, someday. But waiting until its warm is probably a good idea, since paint doesn't really dry well in cold weather...outside...while raining..or possibly snowing. And not to mention I am a weenie when it comes to being cold.

Instead I opted for this beauty I found at good will for 1.99. She was kind of falling apart but the frame was actually quite beautiful as it was. I immediately knew what I wanted to do with her.

I suppose I should have taken a picture of all of it together before I tore it apart, but I was so excited to get started, that I am surprised I remembered the camera at all!

I painted the frame and the wood on the inside of the mat with spray paint in black satin. While it was drying I recovered the picture with burlap and stenciled "live, laugh, love" onto it. I also recovered the top of the map in burlap as well. It was already covered in what looked like a tan linen, but it was a little stained. If I had had some tea, I would have tea stained the whole thing. That would have been gorgeous! But since I don't drink tea, I had none on hand. :) So, I went with the burlap.

I bought some crackle medium and painted it all over the dried frames. Here is where the painful part came into play. I realized after waiting a few hours for it to crackle, that the medium only works with acrylic paint, not spray paint. So instead of crackling my frame, it just made it super shiny and glossy! ew! Needless to say I was somewhat bummed, but I wasn't completely deterred. I started to sand paper off the crackle medium, and as I did the black paint began to come off in spots as well, and I loved the way it looked! I had thought about distressing it when I first found the painting, but I really wanted to see what the crackle would look like. In the end I am glad for my mistake, because it led to something wonderful!

Here is the end result all put together:

Its still a tad shiny in some places, I couldn't get my sandpaper into the little corners! But you can't really tell. I was planning on taking this to Bunco next month for the home decor theme, but I might just keep it for myself! :)

I can't wait to find my next project. I am thinking maybe a wall clock.

What do you think? :)