A Diva Dilemma: Before and After

The other day I was browsing through the frames at the dollar store and saw these lovelies.

They had been marked down to .50 because nobody wanted them.  Huh? Wonder why. ;)  Well I wanted them so I bought the last three and couldn't wait to get home to my spray paint! 

Side note:  Do you ever feel bad for the people who don't know what a little paint can do?  I wish I'd known when I was first married and living in an apartment full of freebies and mismatches.  I could have done so much! 

Okay, onto the after.........

The flowers are from my yard (they are a little sparse this year).  You can read how to paint a Mason jar here.  If you put water in the painted jar, it will need a liner of some kind (plastic cup) or the paint will bubble and peel).  The tray got a new coat of Rust-oleum's Heirloom White spray paint.  I painted it black here, and before that it looked like this!

I flipped the mirror around and painted chalkboard paint on the back of it so if I ever want to use the mirror I still can.  The paint color is Rust-oleum's satin sage and is somewhat deceiving depending on the lighting and what you put it next to, sometimes it seems more blue. 

Directions

1.  Sand the top down if there are any uneven lines from the previous paint or they will still show when you paint it.

2.  Spray with primer.  (I used 1 coat of gray and 1 coat of white just to make sure it was covered well.)

3.  Spray on 1 to 2 coats of paint  (I used Rust-oleums satin Sage).  Let dry.

4.  Run an ink pad around the edges to give it a distressed look.  Smear it some with your finger if needed.

5.  Finish it with a coat of matte or gloss clear acrylic finishing spray.

6.  Paint chalkboard paint on the back side of the mirror (so it can still be used). 

I cut the leaves out of burlap and added some Fray Check to the edges to help prevent fraying.  The rosette was made from a strip of osnaburg fabric.  I only glued it onto the jute (which is tied in the back) in case I want to take it off at any point.

I'm still deciding what I want to do with the other two frames, small gifts maybe?

Today's Fabulous Find...50 Cent Frames

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