Old Frame + (New Paint) Stain + Wire = LOVE at first sight

I am currently in LOVE with some old frames. I know, I use LOVE way too much, but it's just the best word I've got! and the best description. The hubby would tell me to branch out and use expand my vocabulary, but I believe love is universal...when I say love you know exactly how I feel. I guess I could say, "I am currently overly passionate about some old frames." There, I didn't use love...that's all the branching out I'm gonna do tonight.

ANYWAYS....back to my appreciation for aged frames. Each visit to the Habitat or the Christian Ministries has yielded several of these treasures and I'm finally getting to put them to good use!

Here's my before picture. I found this beauty and I spent a fortune on it...$1.00. I had every intention of making these to sell on Etsy and at shows but I think I need one...or four. We'll see what happens. Ok, back to the before picture. This frame caught my eye because of the decorative edging and I knew how great it would hold a stain. I love am crazy about the look of an antique white frame with a brown stain over it, dipping into all the nooks and crannies...BEE-U-TIFUL!

I spray painted the frame white. I just used the cheapest, most plain white I could find. Since it was gonna be stained, the color of white didn't realy matter to me. Once the paint was dry, I used sand paper and rubbed it on the edges and on the ridges of the frame. Then, I used a brown stain, dipped a paper towel into it, and rubbed it all over the frame. I let the stain sit for a couple of seconds, and then wiped it off with another paper towel. I repeated this step about 3 times, until I achieved the look I was going for.

Almost there! Oh, this is so exciting! Isn't it great! I was really tempted to do something different with this once I got to this point. Maybe frame some old plates or a wreath or just look at it like this, I don't know. But I knew the end result would be well worth it!

I wanted you to be able to see the detail. "Isn't she lovely....Isn't she wooondeerrrrful..." Sorry!

Next, I took some galvanized steel cage wire and cut it to the size of the frame. Turning the frame over, I stapled the wire to the back of the frames. I then cut out a piece of burlap to cover the back of the frame and stapled it to the back of the frame, over the cage wire. Then, I turned it over and... L-O-V-E!

See what I was talking about? Muy fantastico!