Chicken wire frames

So here's my take on a fun tutorial.  A few people down at Persnickety's  have mentioned that they would like some card holders/displays now that the holidays are approaching.  So my girl Mandi and I thought, hey, we have some empty frames hanging out, why not try the whole chicken wire thing and see how that goes.  She supplied some frames and the chicken wire, I did the following....

First I put out a little "poll" on my fb page, asking what colors people would be interested in if I were to venture down this path.  I got a bunch of great responses and started painting away.  The one I started with was a Christmas themed one...it was white to begin with, and I decided to tape it off so I could add some stripes.

 

Some cute red and green stripes to be specific.  Now I will say there was no rhyme or reason to my stripes, just kinda taped at random intervals.

 

Once it was all dried I pulled the tape off, did a light sanding and did a coat of wax to seal it (and all the other frames I painted) up.  When all my frames were done I headed out to the garage to start cutting the wire.  When you buy chicken wire it's all shiny and new, and that's not really the look I was going for.

See, shiny, new wire, doesn't really go well with cute distressed frames.

Enter....Sophisticated Finishes, Rust and Antiquing Solution

There are actually 2 steps to this process, but I only used 1 of the 2 products.  The "antiquer" instantly turns the wire black, which is helpful so you can see where you've applied it and where you haven't.  It doesn't stay black, as it dries, it turns a cool vintagey wire color.

I forgot to mention that before you apply this you should have cut your wire from the roll, if you bought a roll.  I didn't really measure mine, I just laid it out and cut maybe a half inch wider than what I thought I would need, just in case.  Once the wire was dry I grabbed my staple gun and started stapling away.  Again, no rhyme or reason, just where I thought it looked like it needed it.

I will say that after my first (failed) attempt at this I learned that you need to staple on the outside of the frame.  Otherwise this happens...

If you try to staple on the inside of the frame, the staples go all the way through.  Then you curse yourself and get really frustrated and may throw something....

Plus I discovered that the inside edge doesn't really provide a lot of room for cleaning up your wire.  So remember, OUTSIDE edge of the frame :)

Once you get everything stapled into place you'll probably have something that looks like this..

 

What I opted to do was take my handy wire snippers, trim the ones that were really long and then twist the others around the staples just to give it that added oomph, to keep it in place.

 

Then it looks a little more finished, and you can worry less about all that stapling being in vain.  So what I learned was DO NOT staple on the inside edge of the frame, antique your wire for a "cooler" vintage look, trim and twist your wire, and then sit back and enjoy your finished work!!

Since today is Thanksgiving, I grabbed some of my 1st grader's turkey and owl artwork and clipped them on with clothespins.

Same artwork, just a larger frame I did.  How cute would this be with all those great Christmas cards that will start rolling in soon??

Or a smaller frame for your earrings or jewelry?

I did 6 of these frames in total, varying colors and sizes, all heading down to Persnickety's for the Holiday Open House on Saturday.  If you're local you should come check it out 11-7.  LOTS of goodies like these, and SO many more!!

 

Hope you all enjoy the upcoming holidays!!

 

~Denniel

 

 

 

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