Hi everyone! Hope you all had a nice weekend–we are down two out of four cars, so we had an interesting time of it, but we made it work. I popped into two estate sales on Friday in the space of an hour and a half–that’s my superpower–making the most of any amount of time I’m allotted for vintage shopping. Ha ha. Saturday my sweet husband and I visited a [new to us] junk shop, followed by a quick jaunt to the historic city of Kingston (NY), about an hour south of us. So look for posts with vintage finds and architectural photos coming up soon.
Vintage Wall Art
Leading up to Christmas, I shared a number of different vintage-y projects that sold at the big craft fair I do every year around the holidays. I have one more project that I’ve held in reserve since it’s not specifically a Christmas project. It’s an anytime project that doesn’t require many materials or much time at all. I can’t take credit for the idea because I feel sure I’ve noticed it several times on Pinterest and elsewhere. The basic idea involves framing small vintage items on some sort of nice, old paper, like pages from a dictionary or sheet music. Or how about an antique letter that contains terrific hand-writing? Well, that’s what I used to create some vintage wall art, and I guess other’s liked them as much as I because they sold quickly at $12.00 each.
Framed in red, they fit right in with all of the Christmas I had for sale.
Free Printable
I used this beautiful letter filled with old-fashioned handwriting for the background and you can too(!). You can download it as a PDF and use it for as many projects as you like. I picked it up in an antique store near Pittsburgh. Though I spent more than I would have liked ($3.00), I’ve used it for several projects, including the photographs below, so it’s turned out to be a very wise purchase.
Once you’ve selected your background paper, you’ll need to round up a frame or two. I scooped up several of those medium brown, oak ones you see everywhere at a junk shop for 12¢ each (I know, strange price point, right?). I spray painted them black, but of course, buy or paint them any color you like, if you need to.
Then you’ll need some vintage scissors. (Or some other cool vintage something or other, how about vintage keys, a neat piece of jewelry, or an old pen?)
I’ve lately begun to recognize that scissors form another “accidental” collection of mine. Fortunately, they are nicely corralled in a large, glass flower frog on my desk. I’ll be posting about the entire collection sometime soon.
These vintage, folding scissors, from Germany, would look nice framed, wouldn’t they?
And while I think this tiny 2 1/2″ pair would look marvelous framed, I can’t bring myself to do it. Aren’t they just darling? In the end, I chose the most interesting, but least valuable pairs (in my mind) to frame. I didn’t want to ruin special scissors by gunking them up with glue.
So once you’ve assembled all of your materials, cut the vintage paper to size, along with a piece of thick cardboard to hold everything in place, insert it into the frame and hold it in place with small nails or glazier points. Dab some glue on the high points of the back of your scissors and set them on your paper, allow it to dry overnight. Once dry, back your frame and attach a hanger of some sort.
Learn more about the mechanics of framing here.
Here’s another one that I made for the craft fair. I definitely like the red and the thicker width of these frames. What do you think?
Free Printable
Don’t forget to print out or pin this awesome, handwritten letter to use for any crafts you like. *
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* Feel free to use this printable for unlimited personal or commercial use;
however, please don’t republish on your blog or website as your own.
Give attribution to Adirondack Girl @ Heart and link back to this page.
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Diana, this is beautiful! I bet you could use invisible thread to hold the more ornate scissors if you thread it to the back and knot the thread. Secure and invisible. 🙂 Just an idea. 🙂
Hey, I have framed “valuable” items before by sewing them onto the background! Print your item on cardstock, and tack sew the scissors, key, etc. to the card. Works well for most items! And it’s removeable down the road.
Love this idea Diana and thanks for the free printable … it is a very interesting background. I am sure I have lots of neat stuff I can frame.
Hugs,
Audrey Z.
This is a fun idea, Diana! Thank you for sharing the lovely old letter!
I’m smiling that someone else likes to collect scissors. Cute idea, but I don’t think I can frame any of my scissors. I have more than I’d ever use, but all the same, I like to keep them handy to pull out when the mood strikes. ‘-)
I’m a stitcher, so my scissor collection consists of small embroidery or needlepoint scissors. I keep them in small containers on a shelf so I can enjoy the interesting shapes and designs of the handles. Many are antique and others are unique souvenirs from travels. I’ve not added any in some years. I keep thinking, How many pairs of scissors does one need? Of course, when collecting, we all know the answer to that type of question.
I also collect scissors and never thought about framing them individually. I was dumpster diving in a new housing project and I scored 2 cabinet doors. I drove screws into one of them to hang my scissors and the other to hang my key collection. I am wondering, does the scissor tend to pull away from the paper in the frame? Just curious.
I love the scissors-framing idea, Diana. So simple, yet so attractive. I had a pair of old scissors that were very small and had scroll-work where the handles attached to the blades. They were my grandmother’s embroidery scissors, very tiny points on the blades and just precious. But somehow, I have lost or misplaced them and am heart-broken. They would have looked lovely framed, although I would have had to figure out a way to attach them other than glue, I think. Maybe I could have used embroidery floss and “sewn” them onto the backing! I hope they turn up so I can do it someday!
Love your posts. Thanks for sharing your always-interesting doings!
Okay Diana, this is too weird. The books I am working on-when I write, lol-end in Chicago in 1893. The hero’s offices are in the Otis Building….LOL. So this is a stitch….LOVE IT! And your great framing ideas, thanks Sandi
Cute. I love the look. I once framed a vintage clothespin in the same fashion, only the backdrop was a worn piece of leather cut to fit the frame opening. Your scissor collection is fab!
Very cute! I framed a pair of scissors for my sewing room but never could find a place to hang it. 🙂 Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
I love that you framed vintage scissors. Thank you for sharing your charming framed vintage scissors at the Snickerdoodle Create~Bake~Make link party!