DIY...UHM, YES PLEASE!?

I admit, I'm a complete Do-It-Yourself kinda freak. I LOVE any project that I get to blast my personality and hard work into. Its my instant gratification, if you will. I'm also an avid Pinterest-er...its scary. (Thanks a lot Steph for getting me hooked on that) This last Christmas I made the grandparents window frame picture...frames? Yeah I'm not sure how you say classify it, but it was definitely an idea inspired by Pinterest and infused with Robynitis...I can say that I learned how to successfully 'glaze' a window pane with putty (now that was an interesting concept). I'm blessed with Rob's grandma who lives very close and she's also an avid DIYer. She's like a walking home project expert. So when I got the window picture frame idea and began searching (A LOT OF SEARCHING) I was able to glean great advise from her. It was an awesome project and I thought I'd share it with you on here, just in case you want to give it a shot!
Okay so first...gotta find a window. I love the old windows that I remember being in the house my Granny lived in in Washington state. Kinda old farm house with multiple panes. I went to flea markets and antique stores...you may find that due to the current rise in DIY projects and specifically for windows like I was looking for, prices have gone up. Its a tad annoying since it's OLD and usually has crap on it. But in my world, crap adds character...see? Perspective. LOL

I was able to find several at an antique store in downtown Greeley and chose 2. Both needed extensive glaze work. Fortunately, Sue was experienced in glazing and got me started. I wanted to keep the character of being old there, but I wanted the glass to be completely secure.

You can find glazing putty for window panes at Home Depot (and I'm sure Lowe's or any home store) for less than $5. And then you will probably want to snag some project gloves since the stuff is a bit messy. My idea was to create a frame of pictures that would be interchangeable from year to year.

If you look closely you can see the clear picture sleeves

I also wanted the pictures to be securely set behind the glass...why? I have little hands that really cannot keep to themselves, so behind glass was much safer that way I'd only be potentially cleaning finger prints instead of replacing pictures consistantly. But I didn't want whatever would hold the pictures in to be a eye-sore when displayed. I found out that at Michael's they have scrapbooking picture sleeves that are plastic and CLEAR! PERFECT! So I used those and glass glue (also found at Michael's) and was able to apply a small bit to the end of a toothpick and touch the sleeve and stick it on there. The easiest way to make sure I got the sizes right was putting the sleeves on the actual pictures and laying them down in the area with the glue ON and removing the picture as soon as most of the glue had set, just in case the glue managed to get out from behind the sleeve itself and damage the picture.

After I had placed all the pictures where I wanted them I had each child dip their hands in glass paint and apply it to the window under their designated pictures. This way their ages were 'frozen' in time, but their current pictures could be replaced with new ones as they grow. Our newest addition will have to do his foot since he doesn't understand holding still. :) Again, I loved this idea with the pictures because it was nostalgic and personal. It took my time and intentional effort...making the gifts I gave personal to me.

It wasn't all that hard, just super time intensive. I think each window took me at least 11 hours. On each one I also added twine around the edges because I wanted the 'barn' or 'older' look.

I chose a horizontal display since I knew that it'd fit better for the recipients

I took a wire brush and ran it over the outside to 'weather' the paint that was already on it and then took a very dull beige and took a few swipes over the exterior to add more depth and more 'weather' to it...if that makes sense. Highly recommend them. Anyway here are the pictures as my project unfolded!

here is the vertical display...although the picture I took is a bit awkward

Happy DIY-ing!!!