March 8th: Holiday, Birthday, and a DIY!

Happy International Women's Day to all the lady readers out there!  

The name of this holiday is somewhat misleading since most people outside of Russia don't know of it.

In our household however, this day has taken on an even greater importance since the birth of my beautiful daughter at 9:28pm this day last year.  So, in honour of her first birthday I am creating a very special art display to star in my soon-to-be made over bedroom.

When on holiday in Vladivostok, I always seem to return with some old family stuff.  One year I took a stack of vintage greeting cards from our apartment - many of which were dedicated to March 8th.  They, as most precious things, lived in the basement for many years, but when Vasilisa was born I immediately knew I would somehow utilize the postcards for her first birthday.

I really wanted to display them in a unique way; I thought of doing a collage, or pasting them onto a canvas, using a cork board behind glass in some way, but I wasn't really inspired by any of those ideas.

Finally inspiration struck when a few weeks ago I saw a post on Young House Love about making a floating image in a frame - it immediately spoke to me.  Having a backless frame elevates the art (no pun intended) a bit, and immediately stands out more that a regularly framed picture.  I'd never had floating art before, and so, I was very excited to copy this project!

I scoured several thrift stores in search of the perfect frame or two, but was shocked at the limited options and high price tags.  Instead, I collected a bunch of my old frames and sprayed them for a cohesive look.

I removed the backs and glass, and even taped off the sides of two frames to keep the wood grain - just for some extra dimension in the end.  

Following the instructions on the can, I sprayed a few coats of an antique white (yellowy cream) gloss paint.

Et voila!  Good as new, you could almost mistake them for Homesense...

When the paint dried nice and hard, I flipped over each frame and hammered a sawtooth hook to the centre.

After the hooks were safely and securely attached, I proceed to add a bit of super-glue to the inset lip, and then placed the glass in.

And then, another line of glue over the glass to bond the glass securely to the frame edge.

A few minutes, and the glass was set and ready for the artwork!  When I saw Sherry's frame my first thought was "how did she attach the art?!"  Well, it couldn't be simpler - tape...  A thin sliver at the top and bottom, and it looks like magic!

In no time, my special project was done, and I couldn't be happier with it!  This might not be the way I arrange the frames on the wall, but I'm sure liking the way the floating cards look in each one - they seem somehow fresher and updated without a backing.  

And the best part is that each image inadvertently celebrates my little girl's birthday!