Reusing Picture Frames For Your Original Art

Hastypearl

Hi everyone!

This will be a real nuts and bolts posting for something that you may already be doing,

or might Start doing after you read this.

First, for many years, my parents in law,

were serious picture framers in San Antonio, Texas.

We were privileged to see art of many well known artists

who brought their work in to be framed.

Anyway, we recently closed down their home.

Of course, they had framed tons of family photos,

plus, they had a beautiful art collection, as you can imagine.

Many of their family photos were repeats of what we already had in our home,

and I got an idea…

What if I created my art pieces, to fit in those beautiful frames,

instead of having my art Custom framed?

Brilliant, I thought!

Instead of taking perfectly beautiful frames to charity,

I would instead,

be mindful of the sizes of the frames and save a lot of money.

Every framer has their own techniques,

but what I will show you will help you with

deconstructing found framed pieces.

It’s simple !

First, use a pair of long nose pliers, and remove any staples.

The piece pictured above, had an extra backing board on it, so I did this step twice.

There will also likely be a strip of tape that will need to be removed.

This piece was framed many years ago, so the tape was brittle and came off easily.

Finish removing any staples that you might have missed.

In this frame, there was a green fabric liner

that matched the cross stitched panda bear that was inside.

I simply adapted the liner to suit my needs, by painting it black.

Remove the original art and clean the glass.

Make sure that you keep any cardboard,

backer board or glass, that might have been inside.

Lets face it, it was already cut to the right dimensions

and its another way that you can save time and money.

IF, you like the orientation/direction that the frame was originally wired,

even better.

In the case of one of the frames you will see below,

I had to change the orientation of the wire,

but, it’s really easy to just reuse the screw eyes and cut new wire.

 

 

These two moldings, are both very beautiful and were expensive when first used.

There is one little chipped spot that I will need to match with a little bit of gold paint,

but that will be easy.

I literally, planned/sized both of the two collages pictured here,

based on the measurements of these frames.

Just think how great it will now be for you to try this idea, for yourself !

If you don’t have your own frames,

my husband and I are amazed at how people just seem

to refuse to buy art or frames at estate sales.

Because he is familiar with the manufacturers of the moldings, he will say,

” That is a very expensive frame. Someone should buy it just for the deal on the frame”.

Well, that Someone is me…and now YOU 🙂

Give it a try, but don’t tell your framers I told you !

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Next, I wanted to show you some candid photos of my studio space.

There are ALL sizes of studios.

Some people have fantastical monster big studios

and some happily use the corner of their kitchen table.

I fall somewhere in between and use a spare bedroom.

Yes, it has its challenges, but every space does.

The BEST part about ANY home space,

is being able to shuffle there in our P J’s, night or day.

Am I right? 😉

PJ’s or not, I am always starved for table top space.

I have a table near two wonderful south facing windows

that look out over the beautiful Texas Hill Country,

and the one pictured above has lots of my supplies handy….

Last week, I just got so starved for a clear space to create on,

that I couldn’t resist,

and I brought ANOTHER (floor space is disappearing!) table

up from our stash in the garage and put it…

HERE!

(photos taken at night)

This one will be kept clear of ANY supplies and used Only for building on.

Well, thats what Im telling myself anyway!

Wherever You/I create…we should all just be CRAZY HAPPY that

we have the opportunity or better than that,

that we have Chosen, to be artists, writers, composers,

stitchers, thinkers and dreamers!

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Finally, Im taking a little break from Hastypearl Etsy for now.

I can’t tell you how wonderful it has been to stop, regroup,

and do a little brainstorming about where I’m headed.

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Let me know if you have used remade custom frames

before or if you try it, what you think !

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Best to everyone, and as always, thanks so much for stopping by Hastypearl.

…Laura aka Hastypearl

ps…thanks so much to those of you who have subscribed to being notified when I post.

Feel free to tell your friends about hastypearl 🙂