I don't know if anyone else has this problem... but it's taken me literally 1 year and 4 months to find the correct wall art for a space in my living room. Maybe it's the designer in my knowing, that there's something else out there that is just right for the space...pfft! Who am I kidding? I'm just as indecisive as the rest of the population. At first, the man and I discussed fancy art but he liked oil painting while I liked watercolor...we could not agree. Next I thought, well maybe a mirror would do the trick...negative. Then it hit me, much like lightning. I was browsing Pinterest for ideas and saw this photo from diycozyhome.com
Gorgeous right? But the link they provided to the 100 Beautiful DIY Wall Art Ideas didn't have a tutorial for that! (The link was to here on Brit + Co.) But I had to have it! So, without much work or cost, I was able to put something together and it ended up looking like this:
Pretty awesome right? I stinkin love them! Here's how I did it:
You'll Need:
- 3 - Open Frames (I used these from Hobby Lobby)
- 3 - Clear Glass Apothecary Bottles (I got these)
- 3 - Small fake flowers (I used one stem with 3 clumps of flowers on it.)
- Flat Thumb Tacks (Like these)
- 24 gauge wire
- Ruler
- Sharpie
- Heavy Duty Scissors to cut the wire
- Sawtooth Picture Hangers (Like these)
- Hammer
- Level for Hanging
Instructions:
Once you've assembled all your materials, clear off a space on the countertop to work.
1. Remove the tags off the Apothecary bottles. If you get some adhesive stuck, use an Oxi-Clean Product like this to remove it and give your bottles some shine. Works like a charm. Discard the corks. 2. Next, flip one of your frames over. Grab your ruler and along the left side of your frame, measure 3" down from the top*. Mark a dot roughly center on the side rail of the frame at 3"down. This is where you'll put your thumb tack. *This dimension may change depending on the size of your frame. I choose 3" because it looked about right. This is totally not scientific. 3. Grab your 24 gauge wire and spool of an arms length of wire. It looks like a lot, but I promise it'll make sense soon. Cut the wire using the heavy duty scissors. 4. Straighten the wire by holding one end, and using two fingers to run along the length of the wire, pulling and applying a generous amount of pressure. 5. Then, find the left end of the wire and, using your thumb as a guide, gently fold the end of the wire on it's self forming a loop. While holding the wire and the end together, twist the loop. It should look something like this:
6. Next, grab a thumb tack and put the loop over the prong of the tack. Stick the tack in the previously marked dot on the side rail of the frame.
7. Now, lean your frame against something. The wall, backsplash, whatever. With the bottle in your left hand and the wire in your right, eyeball roughly 12" down from where you just adhered the wire to the back of the frame.
8. Begin wrapping the wire around the neck of the apothecary bottle. You'll want to do this a few times so the bottle doesn't come undone easily. Don't worry, this doesn't have to be perfect. We'll center the bottle later. Now the neck of your bottle should look like this:
9. Find the other end of your wire. Now, this part is a bit of personal preference. We're going to be setting how far above the frame you want your bottle to rest. If you look at the photo above, mine is resting about a pink finger thickness above the edge of the frame. You can do whatever you see fit. Holding the non-tacked wire end in your right hand, begin pulling to the right and watch your bottle move up and down. Find the placing you like and remember her. REMEMBER: We're going to center your bottle in a minute. Don't freak out!
10. Now comes the bottle centering part. Once you've found the right placement for your bottle to hang, begin centering the bottle on the frame by turning the bottle counter-clockwise with your left hand. This will cause some of the wire on the bottles neck to unwind. This is going to take a few tries. Don't get frustrated. You'll find the sweet spot eventually. Just keep adjusting your bottle height and centering by pulling on the wire, and turning the bottle counter-clockwise.
11. Okay, you've got your bottle centered and at the right height, holding the wire in place with your left thumb, using the heavy duty scissors, cut the wire with enough excess to make the same loop we did in step 5.
12. Repeat Steps 5 & 6.
13. Time to prep your flowers! (You can do this ahead of time as well). Find the right stem length for you. You can use my above photo as reference. Trim the flowers to the right length and set aside.
14. With the front of your frame resting flat on the counter (the bottle should be resting in the center as well) eyeball what is dead center on the top rail of your picture frame. Following the directions on the packaging, hammer the sawtooth picture hangers to the back of your picture frame. NOTE: If you end up using barnwood or driftwood like I did, be careful! The wood is old and brittle and could crack!
15. Finally, turn your frame around, put the flower in the bottle and revel in glory!
As mentioned in the materials list, I did most of my shopping at Hobby Lobby for this project. I find that they have an amazing selection of open frames and a great floral department. Also, for those you wondering, the total cost of this project for me was $40.00. Keep an eye out for Hobby Lobby to have a 50% off open frames and picture frames! The frames were normally $24, but with the 50% off came to $11.98, HUGE SAVINGS.
And there you have it! New Wall Art! Enjoy!