Cheap IKEA Ribba Frame Update

I gave my parents framed pictures of Brad and me as one of their Solstice gifts this year.   Perhaps it seems less narcissistic if you know that they have been asking for a new picture for years.  The one my Dad has on his desk at work is my senior yearbook photo from high school!  That was a very long time ago.

I wanted to give the photos to them in nice frames, but of course I didn’t want to just go out and buy them.  Digging through my piles and piles of old cheap frames (as you do) I came across two mismatched IKEA Ribba frames from my old apartment, and had a vision of updating them by blocking off patterns in glossy and flat finishes.

What’s awesome about this is that I was able to do it with materials that I already had on hand so the only cost of this gift was $0.38 to get the pictures printed at our local CVS.  It was all pretty common materials – paint samples, polycrylic in gloss, painters tape.  The only unusual item was liquid gold leaf left over from my thrift store lamp project, but that could have easily been substituted for just another color of paint.

The first thing I did was clean the frames and separate all the extra stuff – glass, hanging hook, mat – and put it away somewhere I would have to rack my brain and search to be able to find them when I was done.  Then I covered everything with a coat of primer.  Working on a gross-ty old house, I’ve found that sometimes it is best to do a coat of primer before patching things up, because it exposes all the defects that are sometimes hard to see when you start.

I probably would have used spray paint if the season was warmer.  Instead, I dug through the many paint samples that we’ve tried out for our walls, and picked out a color for each of them that they would like.  I chose a charcoal gray for my father and a very light lavender for my mother.  Much cheaper and less wasteful to use what you already have on hand!

I brushed this on, and painted the backs, as well, because I don’t know if they’ll put these where you can see both sides, like on a desk or something.

Next, I wanted to block off patterns for the liquid gold leaf.  I racked my brain for what I could use to cut strips of tape down to nice uniform shapes, since I don’t have one of those fancy, self-healing cutters matts that I see the real bloggers using.  A flat surface where I could lay it all out, but wouldn’t mind if I got it sliced up from the X-ACTO knife… like a board… for cutting things on.

(I’m not making a joke.  It legitimately took me a little while to figure this one out.)

I used a cutting board.  I laid out my tape in long strips and used the frames to mark their own length.  I then marked even measurements right onto the tape and cut out small diamond shapes down the center.

I carefully placed the strips down the side of each frame, smoothing as I went to get a good seal.  This left a row of diamonds down the center and two exposed stripes on either side.

I covered the tape with another coat of the base color to help seal those edges, and then put on two coats of liquid gold leaf.  I carefully painted the inside edge, also.  I like the shine of the gold in this project, but it would have worked just as well with another color of paint.

Next, I wanted to create some variation in the finish by blocking off some areas from the glossy polycrylic.  I cut some more strips of tape in a chevron pattern (this IS a blog, after all) and placed them between the diamonds.  Because the stripes along the side had been made just by placing a strip of tape down the center, my little chevrons fit in there perfectly.

Oooh, I like the phrase “my little chevrons.”  When Sage and I finally come out with our DIY-blog themed country music album we’ll totally have a song called My Little Chevrons.  It’ll play just after our hit single, That Bloglovin’ Blog.

But I digress.

I also decorated the front of the frames with a few triangles.

I then put on two coats of polycrylic and let it dry overnight.  Peeling off the tape was difficult, as it attempted to take off extra poly or paint along with it.  But I took it off carefully and only had to patch up a few places.  I suppose that’s why people invest in real stencils.

Here is how the finish looks when they are all done:

It was tough to pick up the impact of the variation in finish in a photo, and it was also my first day of using my “big kid camera,” a DSLR.  So these pictures don’t do them justice.  In person the glossy-flat contrast looks pretty cool, and adds depth and interest without competing with the pictures, as a more decorated frame could have.

It makes me want to try out glossy-flat blocking on other items.  I have the tendency to want to add color and pattern to everything in the house, so this might help me to keep things a little simpler.

Thanks for reading!

(Sharing at Creative Craft Sunday)