There is no need to spend a fortune on those pretty shabby chic country style picture frames. Make some yourself- it is easy and fun! And you can put the money you save toward a piece of well crafted furniture or special window treatments.
Steps
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Gather your materials:
- Unfinished wooden frame
- Off-white paint and paint brush
- Medium grit sandpaper
- Black ink pad
- An old rag
- Lightly sand the frame and paint it. Allow to dry completely.
- Sand the frame again, this time more aggressively, paying extra attention to edges and corners. This will help give the frame a naturally aged look.
- Dab on the black ink with the rag on the heavily sanded areas.
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Sand again, and repeat until you achieve just the amount of 'distress' you like.
Tips
- Try using different color inks for different effects. Red and gold are very attractive. Blues and greens work especially well if you're decorating a beach cottage (or even if you just want to give a room a 'beach cottage feel').
- If you aren't happy with your results, just sand and start over! With a bit of patience and commitment, creating an aged or distressed look on wood is easy to master!
- For an even more distressed look. give the frame a few jabs and scrapes with a screwdriver before adding the ink!
Warnings
- Don't be tempted to start sanding until the paint is COMPLETELY dry, because if it isn't, it will roll off just a little bit too easily...and you might end up having to re-paint the frame.
