Distressing A Wood Picture Frame: TUTORIAL

Today, I decided to do a fun project that i have been itchin' to do for a while now : distressing one of my old wood picture frames that I found at a garage sale (for 50 cents!).

this is before....

...And this is after! I'm thinking about spray painting the glass with chalk board paint...but I haven't gotten to that yet. 

Ok, so here is how I got from point A to point B:

I had not done a project quite like this before, so I decided to begin with some research (always a good place to start, huh?) I looked at quite a number of websites and blogs, and watched several video clips, but I didn't really find one that had exactly what I was looking for. There are quite a few techniques out there! I finally decided to combine a couple of the techniques.

So, here is everything that I used:

1) the Frame

2) Spray paint (I used Ivory)

3) Sandpaper (120 grit)

4) Tack cloth

5) Vaseline (a candle works too...so they say)

6) Steel Wool

7) Gardening tool (rake)

8) bag with rocks, nails, etc in it (this is the fun part :)

9) Pumpkin carving tool (this is optional...I just had it on hand)

This was the fun part: I laid the frame out on the grass and hit it with the bag with the rocks, nails and bolts in it. It didn't take much force at all to get a bunch of little nicks and dents in it. I also took the gardening rake and pumpkin carving tool to it too. It was fun! 

 

Next, I lightly sanded the whole thing with the 120 grit sandpaper. 

If your piece is unfinished or a very dark stain/paint, then you will need to prime. But, since mine was already stained, all I had to do was rough it up a little to get the paint to adhere.

As you can see, this frame has a lot of grooves, so I had to make sure I got everywhere as I sanded and "tack clothed" (I think I can use that as a verb). If you don't have tack cloth, you can wipe off all the dust with a dry cloth and then a very lightly damp one, but you will have to wait until it dries to continue with the next step.

This step is really cool. Apply Vaseline to the areas that you want the undercoat to show through (corners or other places that would naturally show wear and tear). I used my finger, but I suppose a Q-tip would work well too. The paint will only loosely stick to these areas and can easily be rubbed off with the  steel wool later on. You have to be aware though that once you put the Vaseline on, it doesn't come off very easily! I have to admit that I was a little skeptical of using the Vaseline, so I applied it sparingly. However, it worked GREAT and I will be more liberal with it next time.

Now it is time to paint! I went to Hobby Lobby and got a can of Ivory all-purpose paint in a satin finish (I didn't want shiny...it kind of takes away from the whole idea of being antique-y).

this isn't a very good picture, but this is what it looked like after 3 coats of paint (I think it was 3...I didn't wait very long between coats because I was impatient, so I don't remember how many I actually did.)

The nicks and dents that I made earlier were not too obvious once the paint  was applied. It has a nice, naturally worn look to it without being over-done.

The last step is to use the steel wool to give it a distressed, worn look. Gently rub the steel wool over the areas where you applied the Vaseline and it should come off effortlessly! Even if you originally missed some areas with the Vaseline, you can  still rub the paint off, but it just takes a little more effort.

WARNING!!! It is lots of fun, so be careful not to get carried away! Step back often and examine your progress. You want it to look natural...not over-done.

So, once again, here is the finished frame. This was a fun learning experience for me! I have about 4 more to do, and I'm excited! 

 

If anyone has any tips/ideas on distressing frames (or anything for that matter!) please share! If you have done similar projects and have pictures, share the fun and post a link to your blog!