Turn a vintage sale find into something new and shabby chic with just a few garage and crafty supplies, along with a gorgeous combination of May Arts ribbon and Authentique paper. Wow, what a beautiful mix!

I found a frame at a local salvation store for only $.75-it was dirty and awkward looking hanging on the shelf. I knew it would be perfect for a shabby chic project I had in mind for a Mother’s Day gift. I have seen gorgeous altered frames on the internet and wanted to try a go at it myself. It was so easy! After spraying the frame with a few blasts of compressed air, I spray painted lightly and allowed it to dry. Then, attaching chicken wire to the back was a piece of cake with the help of a staple gun (and my husband!). I now had a shabby chic project, similar to a bulletin board!

For a bit of added interest, and to soften the entire piece, I grabbed about a foot of May Art’s silk ribbon in white (SK01), affixed it to the frame with more staples and tied a double bow at the top. I love this ribbon and use it often: it is so soft and pliable, it makes big puffy bows, yet is really sturdy and durable for hanging items too! Each focal element that was added to the piece was attached with tiny clothespins to the chicken wire. The recipient can easily change out the picture and embellishments for each season or year!

I was able to embellish the frame and photograph with a few gorgeous details from Authentique’s Delightful Collection. The patterns, the texture and the colors fit in perfectly with my shabby chic frame! The pinwheel was created by die cutting the Lovely paper and adhering together with a brad.

The beautiful butterfly also uses a die and the Beautiful and Charming papers. An antenna was created by looping the soft May Art’s Yellow Baker’s Twine (412-27) around the two die cut butterflies and tying a knot at the base. Too cute if you ask me!

Here’s the finished piece again:

Every shabby chic gift needs a shabby chic card! After misting the base of the card with pink spray and allowing to dry and stamping the sentiment, I wrapped the card base with the same May Art’s silk ribbon in white and tied it off with burlap string. The tag and stickers came from Authentique’s Delightful Collection as well.

Blog post by: Karen Baker