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Vintage Frame & Art DIY

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Today I have a fun DIY you can create with some items that you may already have on hand, or that you can go out and thrift fairly easily and at a great price. I love thrifted mirrors, but I also love vintage inspired art and I thought these oval mirrors would be the perfect pieces to turn into some art for spring and summer.

Check out even more inspiration in the video at the end of this post

While these could be used as is, I decided to paint them with rub & buff (I chose this finish) to make them look more genuine. In actuality these frames are plastic and the gold finish they had still made them look plastic, so repainting was the way to go if I was to make them look more high end.

Of course, if you have been following me for a while you would know that the way to get the best finish with rub & buff is to start with a black base first. So naturally, I spray painted them with a matte black spray paint.

After they were dry, I applied the rub & buff with a cheap brush. While I apply it, I like to leave some of the black to show through. This gives the frame an aged look and even more dimension.

I then purchased 2 prints from Etsy. They both had hydrangea paintings on them: one had a darker background and the other had a lighter one, but they complemented each other nicely.

I used the mirrors to cut out the images in the correct size to fit in the frame. I always print my digital artwork on card stock.

Then, in order to make them look like oil paintings, I brushed them with a glossy mod podge. I laid it on pretty heavy and made sure to leave it with variations in texture. Then I let them dry completely.

I reassembled the frames featuring the new artwork.

*Quick tip* I like to leave the mirrors in the back of the frames when I reassemble. This way I know exactly where they are if I ever want to use them as mirrors and I don’t have to find a place to store them in the meantime.

I am so happy with how these turned out. They look so elegant and high end and you would never guess the frames cost only $5.00 each and each print a couple of dollars.

What do you think about these framed art pieces? Would you recreate these? What is your flower of choice when it comes to art? I am sure you know what mine is.

Would love to know what you think!

For even more inspiration check out the video below: