Creating a Custom Framed Picture....

With the Holidays fast approaching

do you find yourself packing more "stuff"

 to do into each day?

This is my fovorite time of year, but with that comes

so many more things to add to your calander.

It's a great time to remember to just take a minute

 to enjoy the season.  If only I could remember that!

In my previous post, I said I would share with you how to take an ordinary piture and make it look like it was custom framed. 

  That's exactly what I did in my Powder room makeover.

  I found this picture at Marshalls Home Goods.  It was on the clearance rack. Yhippiee! The frame was broke, but I didn't need it.

It was the print behind the glass that caught my eye.

Don't you just love a good bargin?

Next stop Kinko's.

  I removed the print from the frame. 

 I'm sure the old frame will come in handy for another project. 

 At Kinko's I enlarged the print on the color copier. 

  It took a few tries, but I was  able to size it for the new matting.

 The botanical prints shown below hung in my foyer, until recently when they were replaced by some photos we had taken of my sons. 

 I had  recently sold these prints in a garage sale. 

What was I thinking?

 I should know by now

that eventually I would have a need for them. 

 Well, fortunately for me I knew who the new owner was.  It was a friend who is a decorator, and she had bought the prints only for the frame.  I quickly gave her a call, and asked begged

if I could have the mats from the photos. 

With a little bit of bargaining they were back in my hands.

The matting was the PERFECT color for my new bathroom.  If I had to purchase a custom mat with a fillet,

 it would have cost a small fortune.

Next step.... 

  I embellished the print with some amber colored swarovski crystals.  I purchased them at Michaels.  HERE'S what they look like. With my coupon they were less than $4.00.  I had seen this idea at an up scale home decor shop.  The 14"x14" framed picture was $180.00 and WAY out of my budget!

In this photo it's had to see how much the crystals SPARKLE!When I purchased the crystals, I also got a plain black mat that was smaller than the green mat.  I wanted to give the print a custom look so I double matted the print.  Lucky me, Micheals was having 50% off all open back frames.  In addition there was a coupon in their flyer for an extra 20%  off all framing.

 That made my day!

I added the fillet between the two mats. 

The matting matched the wallpaper perfectly.

 Final Cost: $45.90

Frame $20.00

Black Mat $2.50

Crystals $4.00

Kinko's 40 cents

Marshalls Print in Frame $11.00

Bargining with my friend to buy the mat back  $8.00

*I could have saved $20.00 by using the old frame,

but the new one looks so much better!

I'll be linking this custom framing tip to the following sites:

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