Picture window

My latest project is finally finished! All it took was a little focus and determination not to get distracted by the next shiny thing (which is tough to do when pumpkins and leaves are happening everywhere!)

I was so excited to take pictures of it, I couldn't wait till it was hung on the wall, but here it is...

How's that for a picture window!  Well, technically a door.  About a year ago, one of my neighbors was getting rid of this door, which I guess was from a hutch or something.  (Check it out, I actually remembered to get a before pic!)

I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but I couldn't pass up a perfectly good door.  So I subtly (not really) carried it home while I was walking my dog, and smiled-and-waved when people drove by looking at me sideways.  What, it's a perfectly good door!  And so it sat in my garage until, finally, one day I got my light bulb.

Bing! 

Remember I said I found these words at a yard sale...

Well I don't know what made me think of it, but I held them up to the panes and they were just the right size.  I thought it would be so cute to get pictures of the girls to go with the words, and make a pretty, happy picture frame for their bedroom.

I picked out a soft pink paint and I thought it would be a nice touch to make it look old and weathered.  I found this awesome distressing tutorial and it worked great!  After a light sanding, we lit a tea candle or two and spread a thin layer of wax on the wood, like this...

Then we painted.  This is after one coat.  I almost left it this way because I liked the way it looked all brushy and uneven, but I decided to do the second coat anyway.

When it comes to the distressing part, the wax makes it so easy to scratch the paint right off.   There's no right way to do it, so being the direction-follower that I am, this was actually a good exercise in imperfection for me - recklessly "defacing" a freshly painted door.  (Hi, my name is Lynn and I'm a recovering perfectionist.)  Sunday morning, before my coffee, before my brain was awake enough to stop me, I took one fingernail and scratched it.  There was no turning back after that, and I think it came out just right!

All that was left to do was mount the photos.  After I cut them down to size, I needed some filler to keep them pressed against the glass.  The amount of foam board I would have needed was going to cost a small fortune, so instead I improvised using a few sheets of craft foam in each panel.  It worked like a charm, and it was a major time saver because they were already the right size.  Bonus!

I left a few panes photo-less because I'm a fan of negative space.  It would have been way too busy if every spot had a photo in it.  We trimmed a couple of sheets of poster board to allow for the "holes," then tacked it on with thumb tacks to hold everything in place.  And voila!  A beautiful, personal piece of art.

I'm so so happy about how this whole idea and project came together.  I even made a pretty wallpaper from the words that inspired it.  I know I only have like two readers, but I wanted to share it anyway :)

Wish, love, hope, dream, smile.  Enjoy!