They say one man's old stained artwork in a really cool but gross and discolored frame is another man's treasure, right?
Right.
I've been searching for a large ornate frame that I can use in my home decor to either: 1. use without glass as a spiffy mantel-mirror-esque focal point; 2. with glass, painted using chalkboard paint as a family notice board. Enter this shabby (definitely not yet "chic") artist's frame from 1971 (I know this because it still has a sales sticker on the back) for just $5 bucks! At first I was excited to find such a thick frame with great details. Then I was bummed to find that it's not wood, but a funky plastic. Now, I'm actually glad that it's not a super heavy wood (less ginormous wall mount holes to putty over later), and relieved that if some crazy hurricane/earthquake/tornado/locust infestation creeps up on us, I can safely say that this lightweight frame will not bedhead my sweet daughter.
Moving on!
So, as you can see, this frame is full of really great details, but in sore need of some sweet, tender lovin'. I'm sorry to say that I don't the have need or desire to keep the painting. I'll probably end up donating the actual canvas back to a thrift shop in case someone else can make good use of it. No matter the level of art (my toddler to Monet) I'd hate to just toss it in the trash. Am I weird? Probably.
So, the plan is to remove the 16x20 canvas, give the frame a deep soapy cleaning, prime and paint, distress/antique, then...decorate! Since it didn't come with glass I'm debating on having glass made, adding cork board, or just using as decorative interest. I may use white, cream, or a pale aqua based french blue, but here's basically the look of what I'm going for:
Happy crafting!