Growing up, I was always so jealous of my friends whose refrigerators were covered in family pictures, invitations, tests with A+ written in red ink at the top of the page, and their latest masterpieces. Our family subscribed more to the "less is more" mantra when it came to the use of the fridge as an art gallery. And by "less is more" I mean, the first thing to hang on our fridge came after I graduated from high school. I'm pretty sure that one thing is still there. By itself. So needless to say, when I bought my first house, I might have gone a little overboard when it came to posting things on the refrigerator doors.
Now that we have a child, I wanted to create a place where we could display her "masterpieces." And, as with most young children, our daughter is, um, prolific. She loves to color and it is my current go-to activity to keep her occupied while I cook (side note - if you don't have one of these learning towers, you need one ASAP!). Of course, being the complete sap that I am, I love getting all of her holiday-themed art she brings home from daycare and want a place to hang it, even if for a short period of time. The problem? The doors of our stainless steel fridge are not magnetic.
Enter, THE WALL OF FAME!
My requirements for this project were:
1) something that could accommodate various sized works of art
2) something that says "hey! Look at me!"
3) something that would allow me to quickly and easily exchange art
and, possibly most importantly,
4) something that wouldn't break the bank.
I considered various options. A floating frame would like nice and, given the frame was large enough, would allow various sized pieces. However, it would require taking the frame off the wall, removing the backing, removing the art, replacing the backing, and rehanging. Clearly, far too much effort involved.
After vising a few thrift stores, I found what just might be exactly what I was looking for; an old picture frame that was large enough to hold most masterpieces (requirement #1) and had an ugly painting that I didn't mind painting over. But the best part of all - it was only $3!!!! You're welcome requirement #4. The only drawback was that the wire on the back had been removed. Bah! Easy peasy.
The first order of business was to clean the frame a bit, removing the goo from the tape where the price tag had been and sanding the frame to remove a few splintered edges and the water stains. Using tack cloth (hint - use gloves when using the tack cloth or your hands will remind you just how sticky the tack cloth can be for hours after you finish using it), I finished cleaning the frame, removing all of the dust left over from sanding.
I decided to use some leftover gold spray paint (I like this one, especially for small surfaces) to give the dated wooden frame a somewhat glam and eye-catching update - meeting requirement #2. After allowing the gold paint to dry, I painted the picture itself black, again using leftover paint. The black paint would act as a mat and give a more finished look, not to mention making the drawings pop. I considered removing the painting itself and replacing with 1/4" plywood (I even bought the ply) and covering the plywood in fabric. I decided against it because 1) the original print was sturdy enough, 2) I couldn't decide on a fabric that I could live with, and 3) um, hello! I don't have a lot of spare time so let's get this thing done, shall we?
After applying 2 coats of black paint to the background, I attached a wire picture hanging kit to the back to well, hang the picture. Ok, I didn't really use a kit but I had some hanging wire in one of those tiny nail and hanging bracket boxes I probably got 15 years ago and used a heavy duty staple to attach the wire to the back. A word of warning, if you are the planning kind, maybe make sure that the wire is attached at level points on the back. I didn't. I mean, they aren't far off but I could have paid closer attention, but nah, not my thing.
Now that it was nearly done, I needed something to allow the pictures to be attached to the backing and easily removed without damaging either the backing or the art. I opted against using thumb tacks due to the damage issue although, if you aren't too concerned with that, using corkboard for the backing would be a great option. After doing a little research, I came across these restickable dots from 3M. They kind of turn things into more substantial post-its, and best of all, they are reusable.
I placed 1 dot in each corner of the drawing, and ta-da! A kinda-framed piece of art by my favorite 18 month-old! And one of my favorite parts of the project is that it now hangs at a spot which our daughter is able to see very easily each time we go up or down the stairs. The excitement on her face when she sees it is pretty adorable.
So there you have it. For approximately $6 plus the cost of paint if you don't have any lying around that you would like to use and a couple hours worth of drying time, you've got your very own wall of fame!
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