521 Lake Street’s Penny Rug !

I will warn you ahead of time lots of photos and a rather long post! :)

I have a dear friend I first met when I started blogging named Elizabeth. She has a magical site called Bluebird Papercrafts aka Creative Breathing. When I first saw her blog I was so taken aback by all of her talent for crafts and writing the most touching beautiful posts of the memories she has of her past.

We have become friends over the last two years and she has blessed me with many of her handmade items. I have them for every season! They are my treasures!!!!! When my life was in turmoil this last year Elizabeth was always there with a kind word or deed. Recently, she made me one of her coveted penny rugs. And not just any penny rug but a 521 Lake Street Penny rug! I knew it had to be a very special place that this beautiful piece of artwork resided. To keep it safe I decided to frame it. I envisioned a Red frame with a cute pale yellow matt. So, I went to Michaels and with the lest expensive thin painted red wood frame and just the glass it was $116.00…..are you ready????? AFTER THE 60% off coupon! Can you say RIP OFF????

SO my friend Cheri and I got creative and went to Home Goods looking for an inexpensive art piece in the right size frame…..here is what we got!

Pretty plain and ugly right now….but look at what we paid for it!!!!!

My kind of deal on the budget of the unemployed!

So I brought it home, took it apart and here are the steps it took to make it a perfect frame for my penny rug!

One can of Banner Red Krylon Paint $2.50

First coat of four coats..

Now, matting as we all know can be very expensive, so as Cheri and I went to Hobby Lobby to check out a single matt, we walked by the poster board…..this color is perfect!!!!!! Sorry for the poor photo, kind of forgot my tutorial…:)

Poster Board, two sheets (just in case) $ on sale for $1.06. Now, when times are better, and I am sure they will be soon, I plan on getting this matted correctly, but this works perfect for right now……

The frame had these horrible thick ugly staples, that I could not bend, so I had to pull them all out….to paint the frame. I wanted to keep the glass safe and clean it up, as there was a film on it.

So afterwards we tried staples…no good. So for right now, it is the good old duct tape method!

I used some glue dots to keep the penny rug stuck to the poster board…..so here is the finished product!!!!!! Drum roll please…..

And on the wall……

Never am very good t taking a straight on photo!

This is my entry way….so everyone who comes in gets to see my wonderful 521 Lake Street Penny Rug!!!!!!

Total Cost: $25.00 and some change. Happy Dance here!!!!!

Elizabeth, you have my heart! Thank you seems so not enough!!!!! I will cherish this very special loving tribute to my favorite place always!!!!!

Thanks everyone for stopping by and sharing this wonderful piece of art with me!