LOVE is all you need: Back-painted heart frame

Happy Valentine's Day! I'm going to sneak in one last heart project. 

This is a subtle variation on the back-painted mirrored year project I showed you last month, so I won't belabor the steps again. (Go check out that post or my other back-painted glass projects if you want to see more.)

I ran across this heart shaped float frame at Michael's. At first glance, it was not at all something I would normally consider buying.

In fact, I kind of cringe at the suggestion that I should put our wedding photo in it. But it was so... weird? Something made me buy it. And then I brought it home and did what I do with all float frames -- I painted it.

OK, so maybe the verse is cliché. But it's classic, and it's true. And who doesn't love The Beatles? (I mean, really, just go watch this and let it give you goosebumps.)

Back-painted mirrored year painting

Over the past couple of years, I've made many pieces of back-painted glass. The truth is, I never get tired of them. They almost always yield great results and leave people asking, "wait, you made this?" (especially when there's mirror paint involved).

My husband and I and his two siblings and their spouses all live in old houses. (Whew, that was a mouthful.) That's three old houses, each built in the 1930s. Kinda weird how it all turned out that way. (And no, we don't live down the street from one another.) Anyway, I love my old house. And I think they feel the same way about theirs, so I made these year paintings for my two brothers-in-law commemorating the years their houses were built.

First, I found a font I liked (this is Extra Ornamental No. 2) and printed out the year to my desired size IN REVERSE. As in mirror image. Any letters or numbers must be in reverse. Remember, you are painting the backs of the numbers. It also might help to print in a different color than the paint you intend to use, just to see things a little better. I knew I was going to use black paint, so I printed in red.

My print out was larger than one sheet of paper, so I tiled it and pieced it together with some masking tape.

I used a 8"x14" "float" frame from Michael's: the kind with two pieces of glass instead of the normal glass and backing. This is kind of a non-standard skinny size, but it works well to display four digits.

I cleaned one piece of the glass from the float frame really well with Windex until it was completely clean and streak free. Then I placed it on top of the print out and taped them together.

Then it was time to paint. I use acrylic craft paint for this. No special type. The new Martha Stewart line at Michael's is really good stuff and is made to paint on glass (totally unpaid endorsement), but I've used many different types and everything has worked fine. The paint will be protected in the frame and won't see a lot of wear.

Layer the paint very thinly. You will need multiple coats. After the initial coat, you may want to remove the paper from the glass and hold the glass up to the light to see if you missed any spots.

After the paint was dry, it's important to very carefully and very gently CLEAN THE GLASS again around your painting. There will almost certainly be loads of handprints to get rid of. 

When that is done, it is time for the Looking Glass spray paint. This is awesome stuff that turns clear glass into mirror glass when you spray it on the backside. Follow the directions on the can and let it dry thoroughly. When it's fully dry, clean the back piece of glass, put the frame back together and admire your work!

Like I've noted before, the looking glass paint isn't super clear like a new piece of mirror might be. The finish is murky and the reflections are somewhat dull, but I think it lends itself to an antique look.

So what if you don't have an old house or don't really care about the year a house was built? Try painting a birth year or an anniversary. (Or anything really.) Back-painted glass is definitely one of those gifts that looks more difficult than it actually is.

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This is part of my 2011 Handmade Gift Challenge.

Back-painted Polaroid mirror art

I had this giant 25" x 35" frame that was given to me by a friend (Thanks, Diane!) and was trying to figure out what to do with it. At the same time, I also wanted to make something with the remainder of a can of Looking Glass paint I had, so I paired the two for this project.

First, I taped off the shape of a Polaroid photo border on the back side of the glass. (Oh, yes, I did the math and scaled it proportionally.) Then I filled in the border with several thin coats of white acrylic paint.

When that was dry, I peeled off the tape and it was time for the mirror paint.

I masked off my border with newspaper to protect the areas that shouldn't get sprayed.

It would have been nice if it had turned out a little shinier, but this was how far the remainder of the can of Looking Glass paint got me. I didn't really want to buy another can without any guarantee if additional coats would indeed make it shiner.

Plus there's something kind of nice about the pewtery / dirty / etherealness of it. And it's still plenty reflective.

Back-painted glass cow diagram

There are some ideas I get for projects that are only appropriate for one recipient: my brother, Adam. He appreciates things few others in my circle might. It might be that he has specific interests that I know very well, so I never feel like I'm taking a risk when I make something a little weird for him.

I had earmarked this vintage meat chart to make something for him and decided to do another back-painted glass painting.

This particular illustration lent itself well to my out-of-practice shaky painting hand. (I know my limits. I will never be a pinstriper.)

I used a variety of pinks and reds and a smidge of white for the horns. I was going to add a decorative border, but decided that it would have looked overdone and girly, so I left it off.

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This is part of my Handmade Gift Challenge.



More back-painted glass frames

My sister- and brother-in-law just had a baby boy last week, so for Christmas I thought they could probably use some new photo frames.

I love how the back-painted glass picture frame I made for the playroom turned out, so I decided to do a couple more. I originally found this idea on marthastewart.com, but like last time, I simplified it quite a bit. I modified one of the shapes in Martha's tutorial and googled for another shape to make my templates.

I printed out my template and taped it to the underside of the glass. I added some little white highlights, then traced the shape with black acrylic paint.

Then I filled in the area between the outline and the edges with thin layers.

After painting the image on the glass, I printed out the templates again on cardstock.

I cut out the templates to create a paper backing behind the painted surface so it wouldn't stick to or rub onto the photo.

For gifting, I framed pieces of scrapbook paper.

The frames I used were 5 x 7 inches, but I designed the openings to accommodate a 4 x 6 inch photos. And they can be flipped vertically or horizontally.

Download the 5x7 shape templates

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This is part of my Handmade Gift Challenge.

Back-painted glass picture frame

I took this (kind-of funny) portrait of our cat and wanted to include it in the playroom somehow. I thought about just adding a decorative frame onto the photo digitally, but I just love the way back painted glass looks. This is such an easy way to dress up a plain picture frame.

I took an 8.5" x 11" picture frame I had, popped out the glass and cleaned it really well. I found this loopy oval illustration and printed it out at the size I needed, then I taped it on the underside of the glass.

I traced the design with a thin paintbrush and some black paint. Maybe not as dainty as the original illustration, but still just as loopy.

After the black paint was completely dry, I started layering thin layers of pink paint around the edge. I have learned doing thin layers prevents the wet paint from bleeding underneath the dry paint line.

Three thin layers and it was pretty much opaque. I let this dry for a day or two before putting the frame back together.

I re-sized and printed out the photo of our cat. It's important to note that I didn't frame something precious, sandwiched with the back-painted glass. I don't know that the paint won't rub off on the photo, so I just used a print off my home printer.

Elise loves her kitty, so this will be a fun piece for the playroom.

Click here to see the finished playroom!

Back painted glass ornaments

I have this pass-through window in my kitchen that I like to hang things in. And I thought it was about time I took down the cupcakes from Elise's birthday party (oops!). I wanted to make something summery and fun, but not too holiday specific (i.e. Fourth of July).

I love the look of back painted glass, so I dragged out these clear glass ornaments leftover from this project and set myself up for a super quick, easy and cheap project.

First, I removed the tops of the ornaments and rinsed them out with some water. I gave them a couple hard shakes and dried them upside down. Once they were dry, I squirted about a tablespoon of acrylic craft paint inside.

I covered up the top with my finger and shook the paint around the inside. As the paint covered the inside of the ball, I added more when it was needed to make sure the coverage was even.

After the entire inside was covered, I let them dry upright in the ornament box.

Once they were mostly dry, I gently put the tops back on and hung them up with some ribbons.

I have a couple of tips from my experimentation.

• Don't thin the paint! It needs to be fairly thick to adhere to the glass.
• The colors I used were straight from the bottle. If you wanted to mix colors to make a new color, I would do it before putting it inside the ornament. Once the paint sticks to the glass, it doesn't shake around too well.
• If things aren't looking right, all is not lost! Rinse out the ornament while the paint is still wet.

Love these happy colors!