It is always bittersweet to move. While the prospect of a new house is exciting, leaving the place where you had so many memories can be sad no matter how the space was not working for you. I made this frame to help some very good friends decorate their new home while reminding them of all the good times they had in the last one.
TO GET STARTED, you will need:
- Cardstock Warehouse Cardstock Papers
- Shadowbox frame
- Pre-cut mat board
- Photo of your old home
- Cutting machine
- Glue gun & glue sticks
- Craft tweezers (not pictured)
- Adhesive craft tape
- Glue Pen
- Pipe cleaners
- Straight floral wire (not pictured)
I wanted to keep the style of the frame farmhouse chic as it is representative of the new homeowners’ personal style. The first thing I thought was black, white, rustic, grasses and wheat. I also found a quote that fit the feel of the frame perfectly. “It’s not the home we loved, but the life we lived there.”
Using my cutting machine, I cut out the words of the quote in a script font in the deep Black Licorice, grasses in Sour Apple and Gumdrop Green to give it dimension and tons of these super tiny leaf shapes in Parcel Wrap Kraft and the very lovely Pergamenata Natural to construct the wheat.
For the frame, you want to pick either a shadowbox or one without a glass front, because the grass and wheat will be 3D. I had the hardest time finding a frame and then I came across this piece of wall decor at a home discount store. I loved the frame and background so much and knew that I could cover the quote with the home photo. This was a good reminder for me that if you can’t find what you are looking for, try to think outside the box!
Tape the photo to the back of the pre-cut mat board to hold it in place. Use your adhesive craft tape to secure the mat board and photo to the frame.
Using a ruler or straight edge, place your quote cut-out on your board before gluing to figure out how you want the words spaced. Glue one word at a time to make sure they all stay in place. A glue pen works best for this!
The most challenging part but highlight of this whole project (besides the home of course!) is the wheat. I used a leaf shape to mimic the wheat kernels. A pair of craft tweezers worked perfectly in holding the small pieces so that I could add a drop of hot glue to the bottom point and then attach it to the pipe cleaner. I chose gold pipe cleaners because that’s all that I had, but it really doesn’t matter which color since the wheat will cover the entire thing.
Add one kernel at a time in an alternating diagonal pattern and every once in a while, I threw in a Pergamenata Natural kernel. This type of paper was so pretty in that it is slightly translucent and added a very elegant feel to the wheat plant. If you feel like the wheat is too loose, you can always reinforce with more glue on the back. Lastly, add one more column of wheat down the middle to give it that 3d effect.
Snip off the top and bottoms of the pipe cleaner so that none is showing from the front. Grab a stick of floral wire and hot glue it to the back. Cut the wire to the desired length.
You are ready to add the final touches to your frame. Glue on the larger piece of grass to the bottom right corner, and then add a good amount of hot glue on top of the base of the grass. Push the floral wire with the wheat into the hot glue and hold it in place until the glue dries. Add the smaller piece of grass to the front to create dimension but also to hide the bottoms of the floral wire.
For an added personal touch, you can glue an old house key to the bottom left side or really anything you have kept as a meaningful reminder of your old home!
Make your own first home memory frame? We’d love to see! Be sure to show us on Facebook or Instagram.
Happy Crafting!
-Melanie (A Peace of Creativity)