$5.12

I tore this out of a magazine a while back and unfortunately don't remember which magazine.
The article was written by Susan Stiles Dowell and photographed by Jack Thompson.

Last Christmas we had silhouettes cut of each of the children. Mr. Arnold (who my sister told me about) can cut them several pages thick, so it made a perfect gift for both grandmothers and the mama!

But framin' 'em...that was another matter altogether.

With the above page in hand, I made a trip to our local framing OUTLET for a quote on something similar. Here's what he came up with:

Custom Rectangle: $189

Readymade Oval (that I didn't even like): $167

Readymade Square: $167

For a whopping total of $523

I don't think so.

We gave the silhouettes frameless. And mine sat between cardboard as I considered my options. After my experience with this frame, I kept my eyes open for some "good bones."

God is in the details.

I found this.

And this.

And this.

So...a little paint, spray glue, fabric scraps, card stock, and three hours later...

Ta-dah!

Little Bit.

Thanks to my mother-in-law's suggestion, I hit up Michaels and bought a rectangular mat with an oval cut center. I lopped the corners off the mat and painted it a khaki color. Then I pulled the original oval mat out of the frame and used spray glue to attach fabric (from my scraps) to it. I painted the oval gold using paints I had on hand, and then brushed on black in some areas and rubbed a little here and a little there to highlight the vines, etc.

Total invested: $.38 (frame) + $1.49 (mat with 40% off coupon) = $1.87 

Sister.

I took this one apart and scrubbed her down good with a dry toothbrush (I used The Engineer's - kidding!) and painted the original mats, as well as the linen fabric that's glued on the actual frame. I also painted the outer band of the frame black.

Total Invested: $2.25 (frame)

Little Man.

This one was a bit trickier. It had held an athletic certificate and had no mats. I grabbed some card stock and my exacto. I cut about five mats before I was happy with any of 'em. I attached fabric (from scraps) to the mats, used a dollop of hot glue to assemble. Painted the frame black, wiped on some gold and wha-la!

Total Invested: $1 (frame)

Y'all, I am telling you, GOD IS IN THE DETAILS! He knows the desires of our hearts and He loves us. Seeing those framed silhouettes is SUCH a reminder of God's tender mercies and His deep, rich, attention to the seemingly insignificant, kind of love!