Flipping antiques has kind of become a new obsession these days. There is nothing quite like the beautiful bones and details you get with vintage pieces. At a recent estate sale, we scored a pair of stunning frames. I loved their unique oval shape, the beaded detailing around the trim… But the orange-stained wood, weird bubble glass with crusty plastic floral…not so much. Underneath all of that, I knew I could turn these into something beautiful. Even more exciting, I had an excuse to use Iron Orchard Designs Transfers for the first time! Grab a cup of tea and come along with me as I show you how I did it…
The first step in this antique flip project was to simply remove the backing of the frames. I used a flat head screwdriver to bend the nails open just enough to slide the pieces of wood out. Right away I could smell the 40-year-old mothball odor…yuck!
I removed the old plastic flowers and salvaged anything that looked like it could be repurposed. Some of the plastic was so old, that it crumbled in my fingers. The curved glass was not glued down in any way, so I simply removed them. I used an all-purpose cleaner to wipe the wood down. I wanted to make sure everything was clear of dust and debris before I got started on the transformation process.
The remaining backboard of the frames had a strange velvet green material, I knew I wanted to resurface these with a fresh bright fabric. I was about to pull out my drop cloth stash when I remembered I had an old pillowcase with a hole in the side of it. The soft texture and ivory color were the perfect material I needed. All I had to do was cut a slightly larger oval shape out of each side of the pillowcase and glued the fabric down with a hot glue gun. I thought gluing this around curves would be challenging, but it was easier than I thought. I just simply folded down the fabric, glued it down, and smoothed it over with a ruler. Too easy.
Now for the fun part. I flipped over the backings to reveal a nice clean canvas of fabric to work with. It laid perfectly flat, and was a great surface to apply my transfers. The botanical book of transfers had absolutely beautiful designs! I spent a good while studying each page and carefully cut out a few images. To transfer my images, I simply measured out the center of each frame, and used the grid sheets to guide me as I laid out the artwork exactly where I wanted them. The IOD transfer book came with a special transfer stick that I used to rub the images off smoothly into the fabric. Peeling back the grid paper was the best part. The images looked like they wear painted on!
I decided that the pillow case fabric looked a little too new a bright. Not the vintage botanical look I was going for. A light dusting of coffee grounds rubbed along the edges of the canvas did the trick. It gave the frames more character an almost a “garden dirt” vibe. These images are plants birds and bees after all.
Speaking of “birds and bees” that is precisely what I decided to name this beautiful duo! I know pictures and explanations can only reveal so much about how I put these beauties together. If you want to see the process of this project in action, be sure to check out my YouTube video!
After about two coats of my favorite white chalk paint and a light distressing with a scraper, the frames were finished and looking stunning! At this point, all I had to do was pop the newly transformed canvases back into their frames. The end result was so beautiful and rewarding!
If you are interested in creating similar projects for yourself, you can find IOD retailer near you.
If you love vintage items and one of a kind home decor, be sure to check out my Etsy store!
I hope you all enjoyed these project using IOD transfers, and I hope you feel inspired to get out and discover vintage pieces for yourself!
Watch me transform these old frames into beautiful pieces of art in the video below!
Pin this project for later!
Disclaimer: I am a proud affiliate/sponsor of these products/services. All opinions and recommendations are honest and expressed with the good intent that you will find them of value. Purchasing through these links will not affect your check-out process in any way, but it will support this channel/blog and allow me to keep making valuable content for you. Thank you for your trust.
Leave a Reply