A Vintage Vision - Finally Finished!

There's something that I must confess.
I have been a terrible tease.
For a little over a month, I have had a vision.
A vintage vision to be precise.
And now, it has been fulfilled in
all of it's beautiful, crafty, old world glory!

Just because I am dying to show it off, here's a glimpse...


Ain't she purdy?!

So how do you get this


to look like this?


I'm glad you asked! Here, I'll show you.

First, you need a few things.
- a window frame (without the glass)
- vintage treasures (pictures, post cards, etc.)
- lots o' burlap
- mini clothespins
- eye pins (earring hardware)
- super glue
- spray paint
- sand paper
- wood clamps

Make sure your frame is nice and clean, then spray paint!
I purchased my window frame a looong time ago, and the front had already been somewhat painted. At first I wanted the frame to be a dark brown, but then I changed my mind (imagine that!).


Oh, by the way. I got a little excited as my plans changed and forgot to take the "after" photos of the frame. Oopsies!


Now that you have your frame the color that you want, go ahead and seal it.
Don't forget to sand and distress your frame before you seal it!!
And while you're waiting for all of those coats to truly dry, it's time to make something to hold those gorgeous vintage items!


I found these particular beauties last fall. You can read that story here.




Now, as for the clips to hold the post cards, I wanted to create something that would not be permanant on my frame's background. What to do? Then I had an idea!


I wasn't sure which piece of hardware that I was going to use, but I decided to try out the eye pin (the straight one) first. Good thing, because it worked perfectly!
I superglued the eye pin to one side of the mini clothes pin and let it sit. And sit. And sit.
I guess it never said that the glue was fast drying, but still!



Once those things are super dry, I held onto the base and gently bent the pin into the shape of a hook. The idea is to have a wide enough hook in order to easily slip the hooks in and out of the burlap.

Now, for the burlap.
Lordy, this was by far the part that took the longest!
I started with a burlap sack and cut it open so that it layed flat, then I took the middle "seam" and lined it up with the middle of the window frame and glued the two together.


Of course, the wood clamps held the burlap in place.
Also, I had to place something in the midde until the glue really started to set. I used slippers because they were light weight and it didn't care about getting a little glue on them.
(Actually, they were Mr. Ginger's. Shhh.... he doesn't know!)


Then came the really time consuming part.
And the majority of that time was spent waiting. And waiting. And waiting.
In order to properly glue the burlap to the frame, it had to be tight across the back. The only way to do that was to glue the burlap inch-by-inch.
Gaaahhhh it took forever!
But it totally paid off.



After you have finished gluing the burlap to the frame, you can cut of the excess! You're almost finished!!


To hang up the frame, I took the back hangy-upper part (very technical term, I know) of a thrifted picture frame and put it onto the back of my window frame instead. Genius, I know!

Clip your vintage lovelies and slip the clips into the burlap.

And there you have it!








*Sigh*
Don't you just love when a project turns out exactly how you want it to look?

Showing off at these parties!


Comments

  1. absolutely LOVE it nicole! so inspriring! :)

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  2. OOOHH my gosh!! I love love love this!! What a beautiful idea. Thank you for sharing your project..and love that you included such an in depth how-to!

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  3. i LOVE this! it looks amazing! great job! I found your blog through a link party and i LOVE it! I am your newest follower and would love it if you would check out my blog and follow me too! Thanks!
    -Nikki
    http://chef-n-training.blogspot.com/

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  4. oh that is so lovely! vintage handwriting is so elegant! great transformation! visiting from hoh.

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  5. Oh WOW! I REALLY love this. Saw it on Somewhat Simple.

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  6. Looks like you had fun doing this! It looks fabulous! I really love this vintage look!

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  7. Wow you are the Bulletin Board Queen!
    Following you via Wandering Wednesday blog hop. I am your newest GFC follower. Stop by and follow me however you like.

    http://itsabouttimemamaw.blogspot.com

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  8. This looks so neat! Real talent you have here! Found you at the Thursday Blog Hop and am glad I did! Am a happy new follower :).

    http://marleeindebt.blogspot.com/

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  9. That is adorable with all your vintage treasures to showcase. Thanks for sharing the tutorial at Beach Cottage Good Life Wednesdays.

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  10. This is just wonderful, looks amazing. Thanks for sharing.

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  11. Oh wow! Thanks for sharing this. I pick up postcards all the time at second hand and antique type stores. I am always drawn to them and they are so cheap that I can't help it, but I just have them stacked up, sitting there because I never wanted to do anything to them that would mean I couldn't look at both sides if I wanted to. The clothespins are a fantastic idea.

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  12. Just perfect... Love it... and a great tutorial too. Thanks! :-)

    Warm blessings,
    Spencer

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  13. Beautiful! I love all things vintage and this is awesome. Thanks for sharing.
    liZ
    (simplesimonandco)

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  14. I would love to see this again at my link party. It will be a weekly link up Friday through Sunday. Hope to see you there. You can find the button for it on my blog now if you like.

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  15. This is beautiful, truly. I have a picture frame that I had painted at Christmas time to hold cards just like your "before" and have been wanting to do something different with it. Love the burlap backing idea!!

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  16. Love the window make over, I have one of those sitting in my garage, now I need to get to work! Thanks for sharing!

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  17. This is so pretty. Please stop by www.laughloveandcraft.com and link up to my Share the Wealth Wednesday Link Party!

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  18. Great Tutorial!!! I think this will be my next project!! Thanks for sharing!!

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  19. Fantastic! Love it, love it, love it!

    Jeanine

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  20. I'm a sucker for old windows... or anything vintage! It looks awesome! Great job! Thanks for linking up at Sassy Sites for our ffa party! Have a wonderful weekend! xoxo!!

    -Marni

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  21. This is simply gorgeous and would work perfectly in my sitting room/office/!

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  22. Beautiful! I'm following from Fingerprints on the Fridge...would love to have you link this up at my {wow me} wednesday link party going on right now over on my blog. :)

    Ginger
    gingersnapcrafts.blogspot.com

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  23. This is so awesome! I must share on Facebook :D

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  24. Nicole, this is absolutely gorgeous!!! This would be perfect on my new linky party for Sunday at http://thesodaparlor.blogspot.com. I am looking for crafters that have made vintage crafts, sewing projects, recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation. I would love to have you join me!

    Again thanks for sharing this tutorial, it is stunning!

    Jacque @ Jacque's Soda Parlor

    thesodaparlor.blogspot.com

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  25. i LOVE this!
    thanks for stopping by Growing Up Gardner :)
    new follower

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