Antiqued Temple Pictures and Frames

I was recently reminded that I should have a picture of the temple in every room. (Of course, that is not a picture of the temple above! I can't seem to figure out how to put any text above that photo!)

About 2 years ago, I found an antiqued picture of the Salt Lake Temple that I LOVED. It was $59 and mounted on a black canvas. I have been searching for some new art of Christ and temples that fits better into my decor. (Okay, I know how that sounds! I can hear Missie now!)

She was teasing me about decorations I left when we moved from our home in Arkansas to our townhouse in Alabama. She said she was glad Jesus made the cut, since his portrait was in a wood-stained frame instead of black like everything else :o) I have yet to find the perfect portrait of Jesus to hang on my walls. It needs to speak to me in some way!

Back on topic...I found a beautiful antiqued picture of the Salt Lake Temple FREE while getting my daily Pinterest fix online here: http://carianthony.blogspot.com/p/free-artwork.html

I had it printed at Sam's Club in 11x14 size for less than $3! It isn't crystal clear, but that adds to the charm of it being antiqued and having a canvas look. I needed a frame for it, so I set out to find it at our local Goodwill. I found a nice wooden frame with that horrible plaid mat and greeting card in the first photo for $2.99. (A little tip-if the frame has the brown paper sealing the back, it is usually a very nice frame since someone went to the trouble of having it professionally framed.) I think I mentioned before that I have been busy painting all of my black frames white, so I did the same with this one.

It just didn't look right. So, I looked up "antiquing" since the photo is antiqued. You don't have to buy any special glaze to get it to work right. I found directions here http://www.myrepurposedlife.net/2010/07/glazing-101.html

I really started out only wanting a little bit of the darker color in just a few places. By the time I got done trying to "fix" my few places, I ended up with this:

I like it! I think it works perfectly with this photo. All for less than $6 instead of $59, and this is bigger. I wasn't sure exactly where this picture was going to go. I want a much larger picture of the Oklahoma City Temple for the wall above my couch in the living room.

So, I walked around until I found this by the door:

This was a Super Saturday craft that I still like, but I am not so attached that it has to stay. I like this so much better:

When we search for a new home in 2 years, I think I want the light gray walls. All of the colors I like seem to go better with gray than tan.

I do most of my crafting at the kitchen table. When I finally got done with the frame, I realized that I had been scratching up the kitchen table with the little metal pieces that hold the picture in! I really want a new table, but this was not a plan to get it faster!

While Geno was in surgery yesterday, I folded paper to make these Halloween flowers. I just wanted to learn how to make them in case I want to make the bigger ones for wall decorations or if we need them for a centerpiece for a party. I found the tutorial here: http://www.lilluna.com/2010/10/tutorial-tuesday-simple-halloween-gift.html

It was funny that when I hot glued the ends of the papers together, as soon as they were put together, they were STUCK instantly and there was no moving them around. But, when I was holding the flower together and waiting for the hot glue in the middle to dry, it seemed to take FOREVER!!! Another post to follow on what I do with these.

And finally (on my post, but not the last craft I did today), I LOVE this new subway art! You can find the links on my Pinterest account. I will add the specific ones when I show the final project. I had these printed at Sam's Club in 16x20, so I am in search of a frame. I am thinking that a thinner style will be best and not take away from the art. I may need to pick that up at IKEA next week ;o)