Mommy Corner: My Baby Has Been Framed

Good afternoon.  Today I am going to share a nursery project, but this one could be for any room really.  I mentioned early on in the blog that most things have a back story, and this project started with a frame that was came from my grandmother.  Lovingly referred to as Neinee, she painted quite a bit in her retirement.  Because she was raised in a time where you didn’t waste much, she reused canvas boards and frame moldings.  This often made for odd size pictures.  I received a beautiful painting of magnolias after her passing and had the picture custom framed.  Wanting to carry on the tradition of waste not, want not, I kept the frame in case I ever needed it again. 

Then the day came when I figured out a use for Neinee’s ornate frame.  I had a rather large expanse of wall in the baby’s nursery that needed some filling.  I wanted to frame pictures of the baby, but they grow so fast that I needed something more flexible than the traditional frame.  

I began by priming the frame and several others I used for my parents 50^th anniversary.  I then painted them all the trim color I chose for the room. 

 

Next I gathered up some supplies: the frame, cork board, material, batting, upholstery tacks, and ribbon. For tools I used a skill saw, stapler and framing square.  I searched high and low for a cork board that had a solid backing, most of them were cardboard, and I found this one atTarget. 

 

 

I removed the molding from the cork board, measured, marked it with the square, and cut it to the size of the frame. 

 

 

I then ironed my fabric, cut it to size leaving a 2 inch overhang all the way around and stapled it to the board.  I wrapped the corners similar to that of a package.  I placed the ribbon in a criss cross pattern and stapled it to the back as well.  

 

Next I fit the board inside the frame and secured it with a few staples.  I then chose the center overlaps to add my upholstery tacks. 

 

 

That’s all there was to it.  I made this the focal point of my frame wall, and surrounded it with baby pictures of all the rest of us.  I think it turned out sweet.

 

This way as the baby grows and I take what I'm sure will be tons of pictures; I can keep the pictures current without a lot of hassle. I will be sure to give you all a full nursery tour real soon.  Thanks for stopping by and be sure to come and see what I have going on next.