A friend from church called me to see if I would like some of her furniture pieces. She was redecorating and didn't have room for a coffee table and walnut shelving unit.
Both pieces were solid. I was happy to take them on. The coffee table will be stripped and the base painted. The shelving unit is so beautifully stained, that I might just clean it up. One of my girls could use them in their future homes.
While I was still at her house, she had two gorgeous engravings that she didn't want anymore. I felt too guilty to take those too. I offered to update the frames so she could donate them to one of the school auctions. They were too beautiful to send to the thrift shop. I took one of them and told her I would repaint the frame and if she liked it, I would do the other one. I wouldn't be surprised if she likes the updated version and keeps them. So, once I finished the updated frame, I would ask her if she would like it back and if she didn't, I would donate it to our school auction from her family.
Looking at the picture of the frame, see what I mean? I'll show you the results later on.
As you can see, the frame is tired and dull.
Here is a close up.
Here are some pics of the actual print itself.
To begin, I took the hanger off. To get to the picture, I had to rip off the brown paper backing.
That was easy until I got to the paper on the frame itself. The paper had been glued so I decided to dampen it before I could attempt the removal.
I took the print out of the frame itself in case the water would damage it. In this next picture, the glass and print are out and the back of the frame has been dampened with a clean rag.
See it starting to bubble up?
I didn't want to damage the frame with a putty knife, so I grabbed a pancake flipper to gently rub off the remaining paper remnants.
Finally, the back surface is completely clean. I let it dry overnight.
I pulled out my favorite black paint. I love this product! It paints the truest black I have ever found.
And this is when the process gets long. It took 4, yes 4 separate coats of paint. The first coat barely covered the gold accents of the frame.
The second coat did a bit better, but I still saw gold.
We are getting there with the 3rd coat, but not to perfection yet.
And the 4th coat was the winner!
Sorry about the next blurry picture. Another of my favorite products is this matte spray paint. You can get it at Walmart. One good coat of this and the frame itself is finished.
Off to Hobby Lobby to have them close the back of the frame with fresh brown paper and a hanger. And it's a deal for $2.50.
Isn't the print look spectacular now?
I don't see a comparison at all between the old and new.
And the good news is that the auction committee gladly accepted the donation. I hope the picture brings in some good money for the school.
