Trash to Treasure

I love looking at all of the links on Reinvented's Trash to Treasure blog party each Tuesday, and now I get to participate! I also just came across A Picture is Worth a 1,000 Words and her 2nd Time Around Tuesdays, so I'm excited to be part of that too!

And this is a good one. Here's what I started with:

BEFORE

Sorry for the crummy picture. And sorry it's upside-down. And still has the price tag on. (Yes, that's my unfinished dresser behind it! Glad that's done too!)

I bought this oh-so-beautiful piece of artwork at a thrift store for $5. I went for it because it was about the size I wanted and, cheeeeeeap. It was also made of real wood, which other than the size was my main requirement. I could have held out for a lovelier frame, but I wasn't too picky about what it looked like, since I planned on painting it (among other things!).

I'll tell you though, I was almost kind of embarassed standing in the over-crowded checkout line, realizing that some people probably thought I was going to hang that uggo in my house as-is. Yuck. Oh, and I was telling my husband I was working on this post and he told me I should also mention that he thought I was crazy for bringing that dirty old thing home.

Sorry, I didn't think to take any "during" pictures, so I'll just post my after and explain what I did.

AFTER

So, just ignore the messy bedside...shelves. I know, they're not even tables, but it's a heck of an improvement on the first 2 years of our marriage when all of that stuff was just on the floor by the bed. Except for the lamps. We only just got those in February :) Needless to say, our bedroom is feeling new and improved. (Oh, and that green furry thing is the pillow I like to cuddle with while I sleep. It coordinated with my bedding when I was single. Maybe I should store it under the bed instead of out in plain sight...)

ANYWAY.... TaDa!!! How's that for a treasure? I was getting tired of not having a headboard, and as poor college students we couldn't afford to buy one. So here is my under $20 solution.

Step 1: Remove the ugly picture. And save it for later!

Step 2: Pull off the yucky, dirty cloth matting (?) on the frame. That off-white stuff. Gross. Puffs of dirt and dust literally came off of it as I pulled it off the frame. Sand the frame. I tried to get the major dings out (and they were major), but I didn't worry about it as much as I should have. What can I say, I'm learning to take the Nester's mantra to heart!

Step 3: Paint the frame. I used the same paint that I used on my dresser. I also bought some silver acrylic paint to paint on the fake brassy inside edge of the frame. That helped A LOT.

Since I didn't bother trying to remove the glue that was left from the fabric matte I bought some ribbon to glue on top. I actually used 2 different kinds (due to technical difficulties a.k.a. stupid mistakes) and layered green satin over cream grosgrain. I really was having issues with the ribbon, so don't look too closely. The green isn't actually permanantly affixed. It's actually just on there with photo mounting squares for now. Does anyone know a great idea for gluing down satin ribbon without the glue showing through??

Step 4: Make the pretty fabric inside part! I bought this beautiful fabric from a great store for $2.70 a yard! It was so cheap that I bought enough for this project plus a little extra to use for window treatments or pillows in the future.

I used this tutorial from A Soft Place to Land as a guide on how to do the tufting with the covered buttons. First I measured and poked holes with a hammer and nail where I wanted the buttons to go. Then I hot glued my batting onto the ugly picture. I put the fabric on top and sewed the buttons on through the holes, anchoring them with some cheapo buttons. Then, since I don't yet own a staple gun, I stretched the fabric around the back of the picture and hot glued it to the back.

Step 5: Put your fabric-coverd picture back in the now pretty frame. Hang and admire!