Frame of Mind

My roommate Emily had a great idea for a poster frame to go in the living room of our new place.  Thought I would share it here since so many people loved the Doorknob Coat Rack I did a while back.

We started with an old salvaged window.  One side of the window was an awesome reddish-brown, but we wanted the hardware to face out, so we ended up painting it.  I used some of the leftover paint from a bookcase Jason and I built.  I only put one coat on and streaked the paint a bit to let some white or chipping show through - get a bit of a distressed feel.

Once the paint was dry, we had to get the poster to lie out flat on it.  This was the scene in our kitchen for several days... see the cool color on the flip side?

Once the poster was flat, we put magnets on both sides of the glass to hold it in place.  The poster is behind the glass to protect it.  I used some eyelet screws and wire from an art frame I reclaimed to mount the whole thing on the wall.

Couldn't resist getting my pic in here too I suppose...

Closeup shot of the magnets and some of the distressed paint.

I plan on hitting up some of the local reused and reclaimed building supply stores in order to get another window.  The plan is to get one that hangs lengthwise with another poster.  Cool matching tip - paint things that are similar but don't match the same color to bring them together visually

Snow Day Play

We woke up to a snowy day here in Corvallis - not something that is within the normal wintry weather. The flakes are fat and wet and accumulating on the ground as I type this.

Now I dislike snow. I grew up in the snow belt of New York state, and waking up to feet of fluffy whiteness on the ground is old hat. When I was home for the holidays it snowed EVERY DAY I was there. I found it ridiculous! Really snow is one of the things I truly complain about. Why do you think I moved to the Pacific Northwest?

That said, when we got a light dusting the other day I got a call in my office from a colleague who seemed pretty pleased with what I can only interpret as an attack of sky dandruff. She said, "when you have a four-year-old the snow becomes a wonderful gift." She described her son, nose pressed to the window of their house, asking how long it would stay and if he could go out and play with it.

Yeah, that made me appreciate the snow.

So today I figured I would celebrate another snow blessing (at least from the kid's perspective) - the snow day - by suggesting a couple of art projects that could be done with kids using old items you can find in your house.


CD Fish
Old CDs of any kind
glue (hot glue works best)
permanent markers
any kind of stiff paper
string, yarn, fishing line (You get the idea)
google-eyes, glitter (optional)

1. cut the paper to resemble different fish parts - fins, tail, etc.
2. take a long piece of paper that is about 3" wide and fold it like an accordion
3. lay out one CD on the table with the silver side down
4. glue the fin and tail pieces to the CD so that it starts to look like a fish
5. glue the string flat to the CD so that it comes out of the top of the fish
6. take another CD and glue it together with the other so that both sides facing out are silver
7. decorate the CDs with marker and other bits to make eyes, scales, spots - whatever you like
8. take the piece of paper that is accordion-folded and thread it through the holes in the CDs
9. now you have a lovely fish creation that can hang in a window!
   

Jar Snow Globes
any kind of old jar that you have kicking around as long as it has a lid that fits tightly
glue (hot glue works best)
any kind of small plastic toy
glitter or confetti (you can make this by cutting up a potato chip bag or old mylar balloon)
paint (optional)

1. glue the toy down onto the inside of the jar so that when you screw the lid on it will be inside(be sure that the toy will fit through the jar lid before you do this)
2. put 1-2 T. of glitter into the jar (use more for larger jars, less for little ones)
3. fill the jar most of the way full of water (the toy will displace a bit when you put it in)
4. put glue into the threads of the jar lid
5. slide the toy into the jar and screw the lid on tightly
6. once you have the jar sealed you can turn it over and paint a scene on the outside as well