In attempts to rely less on David and do more by myself, I set out to build a simple frame for my new painting.
I originally wanted to use only supplies that I had on hand, but for the large scale (without piecing the back together) I needed to buy an 1/8" piece of luan. I measured my trunk and asked Ace Hardware to cut it to the maximum size that my car would allow. Putting it in the car, I realized that I measured the back opening of my trunk and not the front opening ... luckily since it was thin, it bent enough to fit. Whew!
Next, Im going to talk about how I made a frame to sit on top of an 1/8" piece of luan. Feel free to skip if you already know how :)
David had previously ripped a 2x2 on the table saw, which worked perfectly for a frame! Honestly the table saw still scares me, so Im glad that this step was taken care of. I feel comfortable working with the chop/miter saw since its more compact and easier to control. A miter box and hand saw would also work well. Id definitely recommend working with what your comfortable with and when in doubt, go slow and double check that your fingers are clear from the blade.
First, I put on my safety glasses - wood can easily go flying, so better safe than sorry! I set the saw to 45, cut the end off. Moved my saw to the other 45. For each side you want to cut on both 45s, I found it easiest to move it back and forth, but you could cut all your sides at once and then flip it. I like to lay it out as I go.
Next, I measured for my frame. My luan was 40" x 54" and I decided that I wanted an extra .5" on the sides so that the frame would slightly extend. Since the board is thin, the frame floats slightly from the wall. I could have made it even, but then Id have to fill the line between the luan and the frame with wood filler.
So from the tip of the 45 angle, I measured 40.5" for the top and bottom and 54.5" for the sides for my 40"x54" board.
Lining up my cut, I accommodated for the blade by cutting at the far edge of the line. Our saw has a light built in which makes it easy to see exactly where the blade will go. I repeated this process for all sides.
I placed the wood around the frame and decided, to glue the frame together off of the board (to avoid measuring :) I used wood glue and clamped the corners with a scrap piece of wood on the front to avoid the clamp damaging the wood.
Meanwhile, I painted my luan with extra white semi gloss latex paint. I then referred to my inspiration image and sketched my pattern with a pencil. Then I used a deep charcoal latex matte paint (left over from my large wall stencil) following my pencil lines. I forgot to take photos of this step ... but it was pretty simple. You could also use a projector if youre not comfortable free handing.
Once the painting was dry, from the back, I centered the frame on the wood and connected them with screws. I pre drilled holes to avoid the wood cracking and then used small screws (shorter than the luan and ripped 2x2).
Finally I taped off the painting the painted edges. It made the most sense to me to do this last since the final part of the frame was glue in place. I used one coat of white paint and then sanded a little once dry to give it a white washed look.
I mounted a picture hanging wire from another frame on the back and that was it!
I was originally planning on giving the frames a second coat of paint, but I love the extra depth that the distressing gives.
Total cost for this project $13 for the 1/8" luan since I had the frame supplies and paint on hand!!
Im so happy with how the office pulled together! Making the light for Creating with the Stars caused the re design, since it didnt fit with our current office. Im so glad because now it feel more me :)
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