Monday, August 30, 2010

The Many Lives of a $1 Yard Sale Frame



After my mini laundry room makeover, I realized I needed some kind of message/bulletin board to keep things semi organized. With 4 busy kids I have endless amounts of school papers, appointment reminders, schedules, and artwork that pass through my hands each day. I had this wonderful frame that was sitting unused and I knew it would be perfect with a little tweaking here and there. This trusty one dollar yard sale frame has proved it's worth ten times over. It's had 5 paint jobs, lived in several different rooms, and served each purpose well. I think I definitely got my dollar's worth, don't you think? Let's take a look back on the evolution of this versatile frame!



This is the original frame straight from a yard sale. Lovely, isn't it?




I decided to make a chalkboard out of it, for the first in a series of makeovers. The frame got painted white and distressed and the picture part I flipped over and painted with chalkboard paint. Easy and fun, but in true Amanda fashion, I quickly tired of it and wanted a change.



This time I painted it parakeet green.....and hated it. So I took some turquoise paint and layered it on top.......still hated it. I ended up brushing my favorite color craft paint, Delta Ceramcoat Seafoam, over both layers and LOVED it! I covered the backerboard with a scrap of canvas dropcloth and made a hairbow holder for my girls.


That ended up being a disaster. My two busy little girls could not keep their hands off it and those bows ended up ALL over my house, every.single.day. So.........I tried it as a picture frame/bulletin board. Same thing happened - they wanted to pull those pictures off and carry them around. That didn't work for me either.




So, the frame got put away in a closet and left for dead. But, not for long. A new idea was born and the old frame got revamped once again. This time it became a bulletin board for my new/old laundry room. I used three cork tiles, cut them to fit, and hot glued them in. Not bad for about 10 minutes of work!



I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but my favorite thing about this frame is that you can see all five layers of paint showing through. It is weathered and worn, old and a bit ragged, but perfect for my needs. I LOVE it!



There is zero natural light in my tiny laundry room, so I apologize for the poor picture quality. This is it hung on the back of my laundry room/pantry door. I like that I can see it when I first walk in from the garage, but it is hidden from guests when they come in the front door. With all the papers that cycle through our house on a daily basis, I'm sure this board will come in handy and prove it's worth once again. And I can't wait to see what it's next life will be!



15 comments:

  1. I LOVE it. I love all the colors showing through. I've been wanting a board like this for my craft room and now I'm going to have to up my search so I can have one of my own too!

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  2. Oh this is just too cute. I love all the layers of paint showing through! I love all the wonderful purposes it has served. I enjoyed your frame walk down memory lane.
    XO~Hope

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  3. Love the multiple uses and the paint colors showing through. Such a great idea!

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  4. You couldn't of planned that finished if you had to! I love it! It looks awesome as a cork board.

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  5. Too funny! I have a GW lamp that has been through several transformations. At least we are making use of what we have. :o)


    Loved your mini laundry room make over! We must have been working hard on our laundry rooms at the same time! I started working on my mini laundry room makeover post last week and came across your post. I need to buy some of those plate sticky things to finish my makeover but it sure if nice to look in and see a little love in there. I think Jen from Tater tots and Jello is redoing her laundry room as well. Must be something in the air. :o)

    Kendra aka "Domestic Princess in
    Training"

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  6. LOL-I'd say you got your money's worth out of that frame! LOL...I'm not sure how many lives it has left..maybe it will be like a cat and have 9 lives? I'll be waiting to see your next "transformation"...Diana

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  7. Amazing what we can do with yard sale finds. Love the frame. Everything you do is so pretty and nice. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. Oh my gosh, that is awesome! Great ideas - every single one! Sandi

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  9. I love how you repurposed it so many times. It's great to hang onto things because it can always have a new life in a different room in the house. Looks great!!!

    Nancy

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  10. Loved reading about the many lives of your bulletin board. :) I think it's a good thing that you can see a different potential with an item you've made over. I tend to pick something and stick with it for fear I might mess it up...and that's just plain boring. :s

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  11. Awesome job, Amanda! You give the term 'recycling' a whole new meaning, girl! hahaha Your laundry room makeover looks great!

    Have a wonderful day!
    ~Michelle :)

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  12. I love all the stages of this frame. I think I'm gonna head out to GW on my lunch break to see if I can find a frame like that to make over.
    You inspire me everyday

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  13. I've liked every incarnation of this frame, but this latest one is my favorite! It looks great, Amanda!

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  14. Another great use for that frame. Love the bulletin board.

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  15. I LOVE the phrase "love is spoken here"! I wanna use it in my house. Thanks for the inspiration. I'm featuring it on my blog soon. little-inspirations.blogspot.com. :)

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