Framed!

Good morning!  What's better than a before and after on a lovely late-December morning? Just about nothing, that's what!

Recently I made over the frame on a piece of art I picked up in Rome.  I bought this map of Italy from the Vatican Museums when I was there in 2000.  I've always loved this map - it's gorgeous and, as a Latin major and one-time resident of Rome, it has special meaning to me.  Back in 2001, I had it framed by a professional framer and hung it in my office for years.  Now it is in my home.  The only issue ... the frame.  It's brown wood and just doesn't work with the rest of my house.  The colors of the map itself do, but the frame does not.  See?

I did not want to to through the expense of reframing it, so it had to work as is.  The mat is a creamy ivory, so I knew a white frame wouldn't really work.  I decided to go silver.  I thought about spray painting, but that seemed risky, since I could not remove the frame from the art.  Instead, I broke out the craft paint. I had some silver craft paint on hand and just took my time and brushed it on.

I used a combination of the brush pictured above and a foam brush.  It took about 7-8 (thousand) coats but it was fast going.  I just scraped off any stray paint from the glass when done.  The painting took maybe a half hour total.  Then I let the frame dry for another hour or two before hanging.  And ... voila! Here is the picture now.  Doesn't it look better?

What about you?  Have you done any easy projects lately?  Please share!

See you swoon,