I Have Been Distracted

Please forgive me for not chronicling our Christmas. I have started several posts but I got distracted and failed to finish them.

First I got distracted by Pinterest. (Pinterest is a bit addictive but is a great organizational tool).

Then came this project.

For quite some time I have been working on this photo display.

I have been collecting inexpensive vintage and antique frames to use to display family photos.

I loved the idea of pairing contemporary photos with the older frames.

This idea also appealed to my frugal sensibilities.

All of these frames were inexpensive; not one of the older frames in this display cost more than five dollars.

It was only after I collected a bunch of frames that I realized I might have an issue actually framing the photos as frugally as I had hoped because most of the frames came without glass and are odd sizes that would require custom mats to be cut.

So, this project floundered for some time.

I have spent months (like maybe six months or more) with some of these frames mounted empty on my wall.

Toodling around on Pinterest, looking at the gobs of really great art out there on the net, got my creative juices flowing and encouraged me to look at what I had stashed in my studio.

Then I had an epiphany: I could forget the glass and mats and use foam board, craft paper, dictionary pages, masking tape, packing tape and glue to finish framing my pictures, get them up on the wall and begin enjoying them.

I am so pleased with the outcome!

On the top right are buttons my grandmother allowed me to take from her button tin when I was just a youngster. Years ago I sewed them onto a small canvas and now they seem at home here. Next to the buttons is a picture of my great-grandfather looking rather dapper. And below are two of my favorite photos of the year. They are photos of my kiddo's (plus Ian) taken while we were in Las Vegas this summer. These photos are beneath glass simply because the frame came with it. (As an aside, this frame only cost me two dollars at a local thrift store!) The photos are mounted on craft paper wrapped foam board and are accented with scraps of vintage dictionary pages.

The top photo's are of my mother as a youngster and the bottom one is of Christian and Maceo when they were younger. I put the shadowboxes together some years back and am pleased that they work so well with this grouping. On the left is my grandmother holding me as a baby and Bishop at three days of age is on the right.

The top right is a photo of my grandfather sitting in the back of a truck with his younger brother, who died as a child. It is the only picture I have that has little Preston in it. To the left of that photo is my grandfather at 90. Beneath my grandfather's photo I simply taped two photos of my husband as a child. I love the one of him with his mother; isn't she beautiful with that fro?

And beneath that is a photo taken by my little sister, Christie, of Christian as a youngster. He is wearing my grandfather's hat and, although you can't see it in this photo, he is mounted on a horse.

To frame my grandfather's photo I simply wrapped foam board with craft paper and used masking tape as photo corners.

Christian's picture was already matted and I simply used packing tape to tape it the foam board covered with vintage dictionary pages.

I am so pleased with the entire arrangement.

I can hardly stop staring and smiling.

For me, it was worth the distraction

but I will try to get back on track.

I will try to get Christmas posted before the New Year.

Oh my, the clock is ticking....