Goodwill Hunting: Ugly Frames - Repurposed

What can you do with someone's old, discarded, ugly a** frames?

I have devoted a whole category in Pinterest to reusing old frames.  Check it out for some inspiration if you feel so inclined.

Here is a sample of 3 ugly frames I purchased on a recent Goodwill outing:

Yeah, my favorite is the windmill painting, which was dated 1976.

I actually liked the floral print, just not the dark bamboo-ish frame, & the owl print, but again it was too dark.

Here's a closer look at the windmill painting, just in case you missed it the first time.

Beautiful, huh?  I really picked this one up for the burlap border.

What to do, what to do?

A little paint does magic.

For the windmill painting, I first painted all the wood, even the painting itself with a buff/cream color using craft paint from Michael's, & left the burlap.

It already looks better.

Then I took a lighter creamy off-white & very lightly dry-brushed over the burlap.  I just wanted to freshen the color, not lose the texture of the burlap. This was a very tricky process.

Finally, I took a metallic finish (the same one I used on my pumpkins) & just went over the inside wooden frame with my finger dipped in the paint to give it some shimmer.

For the other 2, I taped off the portions I didn't want painted, & used the buff/cream color again.

              


















And again, I added some of the shimmer paint using my finger around the inner rim of both paintings to give them some shimma-shimma.  I even added some over the owls eyes.

Here they are completed:

See how the metallic gleams in the light?  I love that stuff.

Stay tuned for how I used these in my decor.

Once again, don't pass up an ugly a** frame just because it's ugly, it may turn out to have some potential!