Tuesday, September 27, 2011

From Trash to Treasure

Craft Gossip is talking about me...

Over the last 2 weeks my friend Maureen and I have been working on these very large 12 pane antique window frames.
We started by spending an entire afternoon scraping off the old caulking from each of the glass openings, removing all the old metal pins that held each pane of glass in the wood and sanding the frame down to remove most of the old cracked and peeling paint. We then painted one coat of white varnish over the frame to seal it and leave it looking a little shabby.
Then the fun began.... driving from one antique store to another in search of trinkets and treasures to display in each window opening. We spent a couple of days in search of all our treasures and we had a blast! We found old keys, door lock plates, knobs, window latches, drawer pulls, mini wreaths and locks. I think we bought enough to create another window frame!
Each pane of my frame represents things that are special in my life. Starting with my favorite saying, which I printed onto canvas and then sewed to a piece of burlap.
And a couple of sketches from my favorite book "When We Were Very Young" by A.A. Milne
A few of mine and my husband's favorite childhood photos hung on chickenwire with tiny red clothespins.
My favorite letter "K" and number "7". We had two new pieces of glass cut and I used black vinyl to create a chandelier (thanks to my friend Susan Tutt for that idea), the word "Home" and the heart that contains a favorite Helen Keller quote.
The finished product hangs in my family room.

12 comments:

Rhonda Lutz said...

I LOVE this! Great job and what a wonderful idea!! Did you find some of the quote sayings in that Magnolia Lane store?

Susan said...

What a beautiful project Val!! I love all of the little details.

Ann at Prairie Primrose said...

Those are wonderful Valery! They look like so much fun.

Sarah Jane said...

Wow! I love, love, love your window. What a beautiful and brilliant idea. Would be a wonderful thing for mums and daughters or a group of friends to do... Truly inspiring.

Sandra Kay said...

One word, Beautiful !!!

Sandra Kay said...

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Anonymous said...

love this where did you find the window with this many panes?

Emmy said...

Great great job!! Love it!!

Patty said...

I absolutely love this! I want to make one myself. What a gorgeous job you did! I found you through Pinterest :)

Karen said...

You did a FABULOUS job! And you are right - the "hunt" is the funnest part!
Have a great day!
Karen

Sandra Ludwig said...

I like what you did with those window frames! They look absolutely lovely. The collage of different colors and textures is very pleasant to look at. I am excited to try your photographs-on-chickenwire concept. Stay happy!

Restore and Renew said...

Found you through Pinterest. I really like what you did with this window.