Thursday, October 14, 2010

$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!

21 comments:

  1. very cool! the silhouettes are beautiful. you inspire me to look around my house and see what I can come up with to decorate new baby's nursery without spending much (or any) $$.

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  2. oh OH OHHHHH!!!!!!!! They are AMAZING!!!! How you will treasure those Jenn! Really, you have NO IDEA!!!

    And...how precious that the LORD detailed it all out for you...such a wonderful tender love HE show us in the details.

    I think you did a MARVELOUS job on them all my friend! Well done.

    Love,
    Camille

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  3. Absolutely beautiful. Yay for thrifted items!

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  4. JENN! They are BEAUTIFUL. now WHERE are you going to hang them??

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  5. I remember that very article. Southern Living? Anywho- They look absolutely beautiful. Excellent job! And I love their eyelashes in the silhouettes.

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  6. You are amazing!!!!! I can't believe how cute those look. And the price! Way to go! God is so good!

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  7. They look so so great!! What a fun project!

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  8. Oh my gosh, I so want to do this! Wonderful, wonderful idea....it just oozes old fashioned style!

    And very nice couch too....is it a family piece?

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  9. Love, love, love it! Beautifully accomplished.

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  10. Love, love, love this little craft project. It inspires me to get out and seek things that I can reuse. I'm so bad to just run out and buy it new (maybe on sale, but still, new). I love the eclectic look of the frames!!! GREAT job w/ the pictures!!!

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  11. I Love those!! Mom had ours done when we were young. I'd love to have James done someday. You're so creative!!

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  12. I LOVE them! You did an AMAZING job with the frames!! I wish you would come up here and go to the thrift stores with me, and then teach me how to be crafy! I do love Michael's. They have everything, and usually at a great price if you get it on sale AND with a coupon!

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  13. Those are so beautiful. What a lasting treasure. And you really did a fantastic job of making those frames look like the expensive ones. Praise the Lord for His goodness!

    jackie

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  14. They are wonderful! I was thinking this week about how we did that when I was small and how much I would love them of my children. Your industrious hands produce such beautiful things!

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  15. They are beautiful! You did an amazing job! What a treasure!

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  16. They are beautiful. And thank you for reminding me that God does care about the little details. I've been stressed about finding an affordable car to drive (we need a bigger one now that we are going to have THREE car seats!!!!!! YAY!) and after reading this am reminded I should just pray for God to lead us to the one...sounds silly, but He really does care!

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  17. Found you through Camille, and I love this post! It is a blessing to have those special things that remind us of God's provision. Your work is stunning!

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  18. beautiful! and even more beautiful is how you "framed" it, no pun intended to remind yourself and us of God's love and tender care for us that is personal. Kelly

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  19. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! Breathe, breathe ...

    Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! Gasp, breathe.

    I. LOVE. THESE!!!

    I am so copying you.

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  20. Awesome! You saved yourself a bucket load of money!

    Thanks so much for the sweet comment on my "Breakthrough" post. It meant the world!

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  21. I just can't get over these. So great!

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