Martes, Hulyo 28, 2015

DIY Lucite Frame

When it came to figuring out art for Evie's room (remember she requested butterflies?), I knew I wanted to try this great tutorial from Honey and Fitz. I've used oversized acrylic sheets for framing wallpaper before and I loved it, but I really like the look of double-paned acrylic rather than just the one sheet against the wall.

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I had no idea that you can buy smaller sheets of acrylic at Lowes! Such a helpful tip! I picked up four of these 30x36" sheets for about $20 each and then I got started on the artwork with my girls.

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I found this butterfly book at an antique book store (it can be found here too).

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It has about 50 color plates of butterfly sketches that I referenced to draw random butterflies on two sheets of lilac colored art paper that I cut to be just a few inches shorter than the acrylic sheets.

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I outlined the sketches in black sharpie and let the girls color them in however they wanted. My two older girls used acrylic paint and Evie went with markers.

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After they finished coloring in the butterflies, I mounted the paper to the back acrylic sheet with double-sided tape and then marked where I wanted my screws to go. Then I heated an extra large nail with a long match until it was hot enough to melt the acrylic. This is a much easier way to make holes in the acrylic than screwing with a drill. Acrylic is pretty brittle and can break in the drilling process, but the hot nail is easy and pretty painless!

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Then all you do is thread the holes with a 1/2" long machine screw and a nut to sandwich the two boards together.

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You can use picture hanging wire wrapped around the screw underneath the nut to hang your new frame.

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The wire will show a little on the side middle screws, but it's not really noticeable.

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I love how this project turned out and the girls really loved working on it with me! :)

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