Antique Photo Frame Repair and Update

My grandma had her sister's picture in a frame like this for years.  Like a
cheval mirror, it could tilt forward or backward on the arms of the base. 
As I child I remember thinking my great-aunt must have been like a
 movie star to have her picture in such a fancy frame :) 
So, when I found this smaller version at a yard sale for
25 cents, naturally it had to come home with me.

  

The frame was loose from the base because the screw holes had 

worn out, but it had some pretty little details...

 First thing, I filled the screw holes with wood putty and let it dry, 

then sanded those down smooth.

Next, a light all-over sanding and good cleaning, then a coat of dark acrylic 

paint as an undercoat - I mixed blacks and browns and even a bit of tan.

After the undercoat dried I brushed on two coats of warm white acrylic craft paint.

After distressing with a bit of sandpaper, plus a light glazing in a warm brown (most

of which was wiped away), it was ready to be re-attached to the base.
Using my teeny-tiniest bit I drilled pilot holes just above where the
original screw holes had been.  I put the screws and tiny washers

 on and it all went back together perfectly.  The glass had 

been cleaned and it was ready for a photo!

Good thing I was able to scan a photo and print it to the correct size - this is
by no means standard at 6" x 8 1/2"!   That lovely young newlywed

 couple in the fuzzy 1940-something photo, were preparing

to embark on their honeymoon as well as a lifetime

together - my mother and daddy.

They still look like movie stars to me :)

Linking to:

Easy Coffee Filter Wreath - made difficult :)

I know, I know - these coffee filter wreaths have been all over blog-land for the last year. That's about right for me...usually takes me a little while to jump on the bandwagon :) But I'm sharing the one I made last week anyway - because I love it!
Difficult isn't exactly the right word for this project, but as often seems to happen with me, I managed to add several steps to what should have been a super-fast, simple project! But I think it still turned out right for my taste, so, what's a little time, if the end result is great?

I wanted a more vintage/organic design - pure white is a bit too fussy for me. So off I went to buy unbleached filters. White was the only choice available, so I decided rather than go to several stores searching I'd just do white. But really - could I JUST DO pure white? Of course not. So I decided to tea stain the filters. I tossed a half dozen tea bags into a pot of boiling water and added the filters. I removed the pot from heat and let the filters "brew" for about 20 minutes and then spread them out to dry by our pellet stove. Any reason to spend time near the pellet stove right now, watching the flames dance while warming my tushie & toes, is welcome :)All 250 of them layered on my funky, chunky long table...looked kind of neat!
I had a straw wreath form I bought for 75 cents at a thrift store. I removed the plastic. Seemed like the right thing to do. Wrong. Straw bits were flying every direction when I touched it! Six of the coffee filters wrapped around the wreath and secured with hot glue took care of that issue. Not likely I'll buy straw again, but if I do, note to self - leave the plastic wrapper on!

Next I had to decide how to arrange the filters. The crimped look they had before their tea bath was pretty much gone. So I decided to fold each filter in half (sorry-didn't think to take pics of this part), then lightly fold in thirds, creating a fan shape. Then I hot-glued the point of the fan to the form. Repeat about 200 times, filling in as you go....and there you have it!
I knew before I ever started it would look perfect tied to this old frame - which set me back a whole 25 cents at a yard sale last summer. It's almost invisible in these photos, but the detail on the frame is really beautiful. And it was already naturally "distressed"!
And the burlap-ish ribbon was something I picked up on a whim a few weeks ago. Wasn't sure where I would use it exactly, but knew it was perfect for something!
My darling daughter-in-law has some great ideas for a statement wall using this...hopefully I'll get around to putting that together and posted before summer!