During the whole parlor/office space renovations, I’ve mentioned several times that we were planning a little art gallery for the open wall space beside my desk chair at the his/hers desk.
In fact, I even added the art gallery to the little ol’ to-do list. And if it’s on a list, it’s official right?! So we have been diligently working on the art gallery project this weekend. Sadly, we didn’t have any art waiting in the wings for us to simply put up on the walls. Everything that we had (frames, pictures, art) in our old apartments had already been hung (the ski map art gallery back here is one project from my apartment dwelling days). It was like starting from scratch. We first framed up the mice cards, which you can read about back here. But considering we wanted to cover the entire wall with mismatched frames and art, that left alot of art to collect in a short period of time. So we’ve been shopping what we owned, ordered up some Etsy art, and hand crafted a few items to cover the wall.
Considering all the art projects we’ve been working on, it’s only fitting that we declare this week Art Week on the blog. So I officially welcome you to Art Week. This week’s posts will be dedicated to the art projects for our parlor gallery and it will be nothing short of exhilarating. I pinky swear!
The first project we’re going to reveal is the pink flamingo art project thanks to a pair of flamingo watercolor prints found on Etsy.
Months ago, I was reading a blog (I honestly can’t remember which one and sadly didn’t pin it…..must…pin…all the things!!!!) and came across this amazing art gallery above a kitchen breakfast nook. The gallery included a pair of framed pink flamingos. I fell in love…instantly…we’re talking head over heels fly me to the moon kind of love. Fast forward to our parlor makeover and the need for art and I started searching out something similar. I found these prints on Etsy from a shop called Allisons Ark. The artist, Alison, is amazing. She has even more prints on Society Six. I adore her work and was thrilled when my prints arrived. I have to be honest here. They took awhile to come…as in I was starting to get worried that the post office was holding them ransom. When they finally did arrive, I realized they came all the way from England! You know…across the pond! No wonder they took over a week to arrive! So that made my prints even cooler and more special. I should have taken pictures of the overseas package that I received or at least the adorable way that Alison packaged it (she wrapped the prints…so cute!).
But back to the gallery. I had visions of how I wanted these prints framed out. I saw a golden frame with a linen background and I found JUST what I was looking for at the local craft stores.
The frames came from AC Moore at only $11 each thanks to a 40% off sale. The fabric was an even bigger steal at only $1.60 for half of a yard. It’s a utility fabric that’s regularly priced at about $6.00 a yard. But with a 40% off coupon I had in hand, got even cheaper. With all my materials in home, it was time to get to work framing up my new prints. I started by covering the cardboard mat that came with the frame in the fabric. I first cut it down to size, cutting the fabric a couple of inches larger than the cardboard.
Then, using a hot glue gun, folded over the fabric, gluing it to the back of the cardboard.
I ended up wrapping the cardboard with fabric, kind of like a Christmas present.
Once the fabric was completely secure to the cardboard and dry, I tacked the prints to the newly fabriced mat using a couple dots of hot glue.
Then assembled the frame for an amazing result.
I love the texture that the fabric adds to the pink flamingo prints. It’s so much more interesting than just using the mat that comes with frames. I also think that the framing looks much more professional. It seems like most high end art/prints lay on top of the mats, rather than under them like in frames that you pick up from the store.
So now I’m left with an adorable pair of pink flamingo prints, all dressed up and nowhere to go. We’re waiting until we have all the pieces for the gallery before laying it all out and hanging anything. So the flamingos now sit in the corner…nobody puts baby in the corner!
So now we have a pair of flamingos to join our pair of mice. Four pieces of art down and so many more to go. Le sigh. We still have rustic frames that Colby built to cover this week, some photographs, and much more. So stay tuned to more from Art Week.
Pssst…So while we were hobnobbing it art style this weekend, what has everyone else been up to? Any other Mainers out there survive the crazy weekend storms? All I have to say is…March better go out like a lamb! No more lion!
