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My husband and I just completed an awesome DIY project about which I am SO very proud. (Ok, ok. He did all the work and I was Creative Director. Creative Director is a fancy ad agency term for the person who has the vision and makes someone else do the work).
It all started when I saw a large quatrefoil-shaped hand made frame somewhere (I dare not say where) and it was tres expensive. I wanted to buy said "whimsical" frame to house a chalkboard which I was also going to buy. I realized all this buying was quickly making my little project way out of budget. So, I said to hubby, pointing to the iPad screen, "Can you make this?" And he said "Yeah." And so we had a project!
Hubby started by drawing up our project in Sketch-Up and AutoCAD. (Yes, he took this very seriously!) Below is the model. He even did it in green so I see what the finished product would look like. He knows I am a very visual person. I guess I should point out right here that our frame is more rectangular, so really not a quatrefoil. Or maybe it is.
Next, he printed out the Sketch-Up drawing life size, trimmed it out, and traced it onto the wood.
Then it was time to start cutting! Watch my man wield that saw! "Babe, what type of saw was that?" Hubby: "A jigsaw."
Forgive me if I
have omitted some steps in my photos. For some reason he did not call
me to the garage prior to every step for photos. Hmph.
Then after all the exterior and interior trimming, he also used his router to route around the interior opening in the rear
of the frame so the chalkboard would fit flush into it (not pictured).
Next, he primed and painted both the frame and the chalk board, and voila! The frame itself has a tiny bit of a distressed look, but not too much. It also matches my kitchen island.
I have to say I'm very happy with how it turned out! I do have just one more step I'd like to do. I'd like to have an artist paint "The Ratcliff family, Established 2000" at the top. That is definitely on my To-Do list. One day.
So, what do you think? I think we could totally sell these on Etsy. We're a good team, ole hubs and his Creative Director.
