DIY Frame Painting Tutorials and Ideas - Part 1 – The Traditional Paint and Antique Method

You would not believe the number of the emails I get asking questions about our {Step it Up Frame Gallery}. Everyone wants to know what paint colors I used, how I painted each frame and how to purchase the stencils. FINALLY after months of promises I have written down everything you could possibly want to know about painting the frames in our {Step it Up Gallery}. There is a lot to explain so I am going to make this a four part series with a tutorial for a different method in each post. I will post them every Friday for the next four weeks. ENJOY
 



To get started I should explain how I will be breaking up the posts.  I used four different methods to paint the frames so I figured why not explain a different method in each post.

Part 1. Paint and Antique - Your standard traditional paint, sand and stain method.

Part 2. Texturize - Same as above, but I add a layer of Texturizing Cream and a second layer of paint to give the frame a little extra character.

Part 3. Paint with a Stencil – I paint the frame like normal, but add a stencil design.

Part 4. Texturize and Stencil – This is the most complicated of the four and takes the longest, but the results are well worth the effort.

PAINTED and ANTIQUED FRAMES
Painting, sanding and staining may seem like a pretty basic technique to some of you, but I know there are lots of novices out there that are still not sure how to get started.  For those of you wanting all the little details you will find the How to Paint and Antique a Block a post helpful post.  It goes into a ton of detail and the process is the same for both frames and blocks.  You may also find this Crafting 101 video tutorial (it’s pretty awsome, ha!) on tips for painting with craft paints AND tips for spray painting helpful. 

Now for the frames.

The most notable frame that I used this method on is the large Eleanor frame that is the focal point of the frame gallery.  The All Because Two People saying that you see is just vinyl I put on top of the paint job…nothing special..but it looks nice.  I like the idea of adding a little something meaningful like a saying somewhere in the gallery.  It makes it more personal.



I also kept the large white Eleanor frame at the top of the gallery simple by painting and staining it as well.



and the small Eleanor frame that is painted black and is kind of tucked away and hidden in the pictures, if you look closely you can see it in the back behind the two quatrefoil frames.



That pretty much wraps it up for this week.  Tune in next friday for more details on adding some texture to your paint jobs!  Fun, fun!