Hello lovelies!! Today, I’m back sharing how you can create brand new wall art with old frames and transfers!
If you were expecting a round of smalls today, don’t worry, I will be back with those on Thursday.
Redesign with Prima recently released a whole bunch of brand new transfer designs, and I just received my order on Saturday. I wanted to play with them immediately!
So, I dug around in my current haul for something I could use one of them on, and came across these four frames:
I decided that one of them would be the perfect candidate for brand new wall art!
I’ve included a few affiliate links so you can find the products I love.
How pretty is this frame?
I’m not really into Victorian children, but I loved the frame on this one.
Prep
I started by removing the existing art, which ended up being paper, and gave it a good wipe down.
Paint
Then, using my Belle brush, I painted two coats of Cotton:
The head on the Belle Brush is great for getting into all those small details more easily. I like the Best Dang Brush for that also, but it might be a bit large for this dainty frame.
Wet Distress
Once it was dry, I wanted to distress the frame and reveal a bit of the gold, but taking sandpaper to these frames can take it down below the gold and into the layer below, which is usually a whitish color.
Instead, I moistened a finishing pad with a little water using my continuous mister and scrubbed the details to wet distress.
You’ll want to wet distress within an hour or so of painting to be able to easily remove the paint this way. You can also use a washcloth.
Seal
Next, I sealed with Best Dang Wax in clear, applying it with my La Petite brush.
I removed any excess and buffed with a clean, soft cloth. You can apply it with a cloth also, but the brush makes it easier.
Creating the “Art”
To create the art for the center, I cut a piece of hard board (it’s like pegboard but without the holes) using my Ryobi Jigsaw:
This is the same material I use to make chalkboards and the Jigsaw is very user-friendly for cuts that don’t have to be perfectly straight. Since this is going in a frame, I don’t have to worry about that.
Once I had my base for my art, I gave it two coats of Cotton going one direction (vertical), and then on the third coat, I painted horizontally:
This gave a slight linen-look to the background.
I sanded lightly all over and then wiped away any sanding dust with a clean, soft cloth.
Transfer time!
Here is the gorgeous transfer that I was most excited to play with!
It is called Maison De Paris:
This is one of the new Maxi sized transfers, and it comes with two sheets that are 12″x 12″ each.
Isn’t this one SO pretty??
Before I could get to that part, I decided to brighten up the existing matting that was in this frame with a little white spray paint:
Two thin coats did the trick.
Then I was ready to create my brand new wall art!
I laid out the pieces how I wanted. I had to remove a line of text, but I made sure it still made sense lol…
Then, I used the enclosed tool to start adding it to my base. I had the hubby take a quick pic to show how I apply transfers. (It’s hard to do when I need both arms lol.)
How I add transfers to my project
I like to hold onto one corner and then start burnishing the image pulling it back as I go:
If any of the image sticks to the clear top layer, I just lay it back down and burnish some more.
Can you tell how pretty it is already??
Once I had the image transferred, all that was left to do was reassemble everything!
Brand new wall art with transfers
Here is how it turned out!
Unfortunately, the glare on the glass prevents it from showing as clearly and as nice as it looks in person…
But it is so pretty! Here it is on an angle from the side…
I didn’t go crazy with the distressing. I just like a little bit…
“You can become whatever your heart desires.”
The top part reads, ” It is a simple reminder so that every day you remember to love.” The part I had to leave out so it would fit went on to add, ” to stay calm, to be yourself”.
FRAME #2
I thought I was done, but I decided to go ahead and play with this frame also:
It came naked like this lol.
And as luck would have it, the hardboard backing was perfectly suitable to be used as the base for this new wall art, so no cutting required!
Aside from that, I did all the same things to create this one as I did with the first.
Then, I pulled out this gorgeous lavender transfer called Champs De Lavende:
I added it to my backing, stealing the butterfly that I didn’t use from the first one and adding it to this one:
It turned out super sweet!
This one came divided into three parts, and I only used one.
I could see adding a piece to three separate frames and hanging them all side by side!
I only did minimal wet distressing on this one too…
I finished off the backs of both with brown Kraft paper, applying it with matte Mod Podge added to just the frame:
I also added a sawtooth hanger to the top of either side for hanging:
You could also use d-ring hardware on either side instead.
And that’s two more things completed from my haul!
These two transfers plus seven more BRAND NEW Maxi transfers and seven more BRAND NEW large transfers have been added to my shop!!
Here’s a peek at all the new mid-sized Maxi transfers:
1. Magnolia Garden
2. Minty Roses
3. Maison De Paris
4. Sweet Notes
5. Majestic Blooms
6. Odeur de Rose
7. An Afternoon in the Garden
8. Dainty Blooms
And the new larger transfers:
1. Champs De Lavende
2. La Voliere
3. Morning Purple
4. Magnolia Grandiflora
5. Alaina Toile
6. Woodland Floral
7. Meet me in the Garden
8. All the FLowers
You’ll see them all in my ETSY SHOP HERE!
I’ll be back with these smalls on Thursday:
Have a fabulous week!
UPDATE: See how those smalls turned out HERE now!
XOXO,
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Janie says
Those are beautiful!
Christy says
Thank you, Janie! XOXO
Mary Kaiser says
Oh my, they both turned out so beautiful! All those transfers are so beautiful. My favorite of all of the big ones is “All the flowers”. It is such a good idea to make art out of the transfers in a frame because they are works of art! Thanks again for the great inspiration!
Christy says
Thank you, Mary! Right? They are so pretty and perfect framed. I love the All the Flowers one too…so many new pretty ones to play with! Have a great day, my friend! XOXO
Jackie C says
I adore both of these!!! They turned out beautiful!
Christy says
Thank you so much, Jackie!! XOXO
Elizabeth Downes says
oh dear! I love these transfers…..I see Wedding gift, or do the lavender in a set of three…one with a bee, one with a butterfly and one with a dragon fly, or maybe just different colors of butterflies…..such a good idea. Thanks so much.
If I had these, nothing would get done around here! lol
Christy says
Ha ha…as soon as I opened the box, I immediately dropped was I was working on to play lol! And yes, I love the three separate, each with its own little addition! XOXO
Cory says
I’m a huge fan of changing up thrifted art to suit your own personal taste. These came out fabulous, talented lady! 💜💜
Christy says
Thank you so much, Cory! Yes, there are so many gorgeous frames that you can find for a great deal out there! XOXO
Lane says
Oh Christy. It wasn’t until I read this article today that I realized I left the top layer of my transfer on the other day when I applied it to my table top. Silly me. It’s been a while since I have used a transfer and it never occurred to me to read the directions! Now I am in the process of putting on the about the sixth coat of poly acrylic to cover it up. Short of stripping everything I don’t know what else to do, but I sure learn my lesson. Love your picture frames.
Christy says
Oh no! Can you still burnish it and remove the top layer? Hopefully, you can salvage it! XOXO
Marcie Lovett says
What a great selection of frames, Christy. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how you were going to put transfers over those detailed carvings! What a great idea to use the transfers as artwork inside – they’re lovely, and the butterfly is perfect for the lavender.
Christy says
Oh ha ha! I have done that before, but not this time lol. These were so pretty that I thought they would look great framed! Thank you, Marcie!! XOXO
Michele M. says
WOW! That’s some incredible AFTERS, Christy! Look so pretty now!
Christy says
Aww thank you so much, my friend! XOXO
Lizzy says
Just beautiful. I like the first one the most.
Christy says
Thank you so much, Lizzy! I like that one too…I’m saving it for our bathroom for when we finally get around to redoing it lol! XOXO
Blair says
The first picture of Victorian children was worth $1,000.
Christy says
Perhaps the original art was. This was just paper.