GARDEN Art DIY: Recycled Window Picture Frame

Recycled Window Picture Frame

Recycled and repurposed items as garden art
Don’t pass by that discarded wooden window in the trash. Turn it into a Recycled Window Picture Frame! Old wooden windows can be repurposed into many wonderful, useful things. We have a greenhouse made from repurposed windows and I saved a few extra windows out for other projects. Let friends and family know you are looking, check salvage stores and call window replacement companies to locate old windows for free or cheap.

Here’s part of my little window stash. Several of my vintage finds will become picture frames to display my own art work. This project is planned as a birthday gift for my favorite junking buddy. Once you have a frame, here’s what to do:

Step 1 ~ Find some old windows!

Clean the frame, let it dry and then whitewash it with white indoor or outdoor paint. I do this with a very dry brush (dip the brush in the paint and then wipe most of the paint off on the side of the can). Wipe the paint off as you go on the frame with an old rag or paper towel so some of the color underneath shows through. Let it dry thoroughly.

Step 2 ~ Use a very dry brush and paint the frame, wipe some of the paint off as you go

Sanding the frame will yield a distressed finish with some of the original color showing through. This is best done outside or in a well-ventilated area as it causes a bit of dust. (Caution: if your window is old it may contain lead paint. Wet hand sanding and/or an electric sander equipped with a HEPA filtered vacuum attachment should be used)

Step 3 ~ Lightly sand the entire frame and then wipe with a damp rag

A foam sanding block is inexpensive and perfect for getting a distressed finish. Sand a bit more on edges and corners to give the frame a well-loved worn look.

Step 4 ~ Distress corners and edges a bit more.

Step 5 ~ measure a pane opening on the back of the frame, draw it out on cardboard and cut out a cardboard template. Make sure it fits snugly in the pane.

Use the cardboard template to cut out three more cardboard pieces that will be the backing behind the pictures. Make sure to measure carefully! Now use the cardboard template to cut the prints to size.

Step 6 ~ Insert pictures and cardboard backing. Secure with glazier points using the flat end of a putty knife to push them into the panes.

Here’s the finished Recycled Window Picture Frame with prints of some of my bird paintings.

Finished Recycled Widow Picture Frame !

But something just wasn’t right and I couldn’t put my finger on it to save me! So I showed the project to my artist friend and she saw the problem right away. “The birds should face inward, not outward”, she said. And so I took it all apart and redid it. I think she is on to something, don’t you?

Here’s another great inspiration for recycling an old picture frame!

Frame quilt scraps up in an old window ~ Our Fairfield Home and Garden

Check out prints of my watercolor paintings that you can purchase for your own projects at http://ourfairfieldhomeandgarden.bigcartel.com/

Repurposed Windows Greenhouse

Repurposed Window Picture Frame

Buy Barb Rosen’s birdprints and make your own vintage window art! Shop now by clicking on Our Fairfield Home and Garden’s shop!