Denim look frame with up-cycled denim flowers

I love textures and denim.  Did you know that you can mimic the texture of the woven threads of denim with paint?  Use an unconventional tool to imitate the looks of denim on a wooden frame and then accent it with real up-cycled denim flowers.  This little denim flower frame makes a great gift for anyone.  And if you use a denim scrap from a discarded favorite article of clothing it makes your frame even more special. 

Supplies:

·      Wooden frame

·      Fine sand paper

·      Acrylic paint, dark blue, light blue

·      Medium paintbrush

·      Inexpensive plastic comb

·      Denim scrap

·      Small blue bead or rhinestone

·      Fabric stiffener or thinned white glue

·      Tacky craft glue

·      Waxed paper or newspaper to protect your work surface

·      Paper or foam plate for a palette

·      Plastic sandwich bag

·      3-D foam dots

·      Flower pattern

Flower pattern

Instructions:

1.     Print the flower pattern on your home printer and use it to cut out motifs from some scrap denim.

2.     Sand the frame all around the edges and front to make sure there are no rough spots.  Cover your work surface with waxed paper or newspaper to protect it. 

3.     Paint the entire frame with dark blue paint.  Let dry and turn over and paint the back.  Let dry. 

4.     Add some lt. blue paint to the plate palette and working in small sections on the front of the frame apply some paint with the paintbrush and while the paint is still wet, go over it with the comb.  This will make little lines and you can remove as much or as little of the light paint as you want.  Continue all around the frame.  Make sure you are going in one direction.  Set aside to dry completely.  You don't have to texturize the back.

5.     Meanwhile place the flower motifs you cut from the denim into a plastic sandwich bag.  Add some fabric stiffener or white glue thinned with water.  Make sure the motifs are completely saturated.  Remove the motifs and squeeze the excess glue from them and lay them on a piece of waxed paper to dry several hours or overnight depending upon the humidity and temperature.

6.     Attach a foam dot to one corner of the frame and then attach the largest flower motif.  Attach another foam dot to the center of the large flower and then the smaller one on top.  Glue on a bead or rhinestone to the center of the flower.