It has been a weird few weeks going from all in to hands off so quickly. I kept thinking, "am I forgetting something?" Last week I would have been taking clomid and this week I would be having my follicle ultrasound to see how many eggs I have. Instead, I've taken no meds and I've scheduled no appointments. There has been a huge sense of freedom, and it has been a lot easier than I expected! That is quite a change from last month and definitely affirms to my heart that we are doing the right thing. Still, I can so easily get down thinking about my age, comparing myself to others, etc... but I am trying so hard not to do that. Life is so short and it is going to fly by whether we have kids or not, so I want to live it up and make the most of it!
One goal I have for this year is to make more time for things that I enjoy! One of the things I like to do is crafting. Do you ever get into one of those moods where you just want to make something? Lately I've been really itching for a good DIY project!
For a while now, I have been following this cute shop on Instagram called "The Adopt Shoppe." It was started by a woman who felt called by The Lord to adopt, but whose family needed money to be able to afford to do so. So, she began making and selling some really cool handmade prints and jewelry to raise money. Now she and her husband have adopted 2 children, but she continues her mission by helping other families raise money to adopt. What a cool thing!! Anyway, I fell in love with her stuff and decided to order some prints both for myself and for gifts. I was originally planning to simply frame them, but then I noticed how she displays some of them and thought it was really cool!
But since I couldn't find anything quite like this that was the right size for my 5x7 prints... I decided to attempt to make my own! I got on good ole Pinterest for inspiration and I found an idea I loved and decided to go for it. I asked my mother-in-law if she wanted to do it with me, and she did, so we tackled this project together, which was a lot of fun!
First of all, I went out to buy all the supplies. Between Hobby Lobby and Lowes, I was able to get everything I needed. The only thing I got from Lowes was an 8x8x2 piece of wood. I asked them to cut it into 10" long pieces for me, which they were happy to do. The cost of these clip frames only ends up being around $5 a piece, which totally surprised me!
Little did my husband and father-in-law know that they would get to be involved in this project, too! Luckily they are good sports. We started off my measuring and marking where the center of the top of the wood pieces was. Then they drilled some holes for us. Hey, at least I had Lowes cut the wood so they didn't have to do that part as well!
Next, we sanded the wood so it would be smooth, because the edges where they had been cut were pretty rough.
Then we let the boys go watch basketball while us assembled them! Here is a picture of everything you will need to get started: 10" long rectangular wood pieces, small oval wood pieces, candlesticks, scroll appliques, finials and wood glue.
We started by gluing the candlesticks to the oval base.
As those were drying, we proceeded to assemble the body of the frame. First we glued the finials into the holes the guys had drilled in the top of the wood. Then we glued the appliques onto the front, bottom & center of the large rectangular piece.
Then it was time to put the frame on the base. We put wood glue on the top of the candlestick and carefully set the frame on top of it, making sure it was straight and holding it in place for a few minutes.
Of course there were sips of wine between each step :)
We set them on the counter to dry overnight and make sure everything was really bonded together before painting them.
A few days later it was time to paint! I strongly advise you to do this on a day that is not incredibly windy so the paint goes where you want it to go and your project doesn't keep getting blown over. Yes, I speak from experience!
I ended up finishing the other ones in my garage because doing one outside was about all I could handle!
Once they are good and dry, you can use a piece of sand paper to distress the edges a little bit. Then it is time to glue on your clips. I failed to take a picture of this step, but it is pretty self explanatory. I recommend laying the frame down on its back and using e6000 glue from Hobby Lobby. Just glue it on and leave it laying there for several hours before standing it back up or putting anything on it.
Here is my finished product! I'm very happy with how they turned out! And I just love how the 'Fruit of the Spirit' pineapple print looks clipped on it!
My mother-in-law ended up painting hers a different color, distressing it and then using a glaze to give it a unique look. She is braver than I am! I love how hers turned out, too! I was wanting something light and bright for my house so I decided to just do plain white, and I thought it would be safer to do that for the ones I was giving as gifts to match other people's decor. But there is so much you can do between different paint colors and clips to really make it your own. It can be pretty crisp and clean like mine or colorful and rustic like Cindy's or whatever else your personality or style might lead you to do!
If you are looking for an alternative to a standard frame, I highly recommend making yourself one of these! It was a lot of fun and pretty inexpensive. It does take some time, but was well worth it for me! You can clip on it a print, a photo, a recipe card, a note or whatever you want! I love the versatility!
Happy crafting!
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