Wednesday, August 4, 2010

What I Did to Paul McCartney

In an effort to divert my attention from fab owl pendants over at YLF, yesterday I found myself in Michael's, mulling over tubes of silvering paint with a helpful employee. Let me just state that I never do anything myself. Home Ec was a fiasco from which I have never recovered.

I found myself in this foreign land of crafters because my mom watches Martha. Let me back up.

I *thought* I needed to reframe two Beatles photos that were already perfectly framed in museum glass and a good matte, but in blonde maple wood, which was totally cool in my husband's bachelor pad 10 years ago but won't work in my living room today. My lovely local art store, while complimenting the current framing, had quoted me $1,000 EACH to put them in new black frames with larger mattes. Minor stroke (mine) ensued.

Back to Mom. When I related the tale, she thought for a while and suggested silvering. Martha had put silver leaf on some Easter eggs once upon a time, and my mom described how she rolled out the thin silver strips and adhered them to the egg with glue and a paintbrush.

It seemed unlikely I could pull that off, and risky. But then the helpful Michael's employee pointed out silvering paint that could be applied with your fingertip. $3.99 total!

Rub some paint on the frame with my finger? I'm in.

Exhibit A: Paul McCartney, before:




During:



Materials used:




Exhibit B: Paul McCartney, after:






What do you think of the before and after? Was my do-it-yourself experiment a success?

And a shout-out to Kristen who made my first photo posts a success!

5 comments:

  1. That is awesome! Maybe by the end of your 5 month shopping hiatus, you will be an avid crafter?

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  2. Paul never looked better! Great job! Martha would be proud. : )

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  3. Thank you ladies! I was so nervous about potentially ruining my husband's prized photos ... I agree, Paul looks stunning in silver!

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  4. Nice job! And good job posting photos too. :)

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  5. Oh my gosh, I'm having the sweats just looking at Paul McCarney when he was young. Is there a better looking face ever?
    As far as the frame in silver, I'm impressed! Good job!

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