Vintage Frame Chalk Board Before and After

There is almost no greater joy for me than finding something discarded and turning it into a new piece that can have a second, third, ok - tenth go at life.  So when I saw this really sad frame at a flea market propped up next to a seller's table at the end of the day, I had to have it.

It was DIRTY.  These photos were taken after I'd already washed off layers of dust and dirt so I could see the wood.  There was a whole mess of peeling ancient brown paper on the back of the wood, and the nails that had once held some sort of picture in place were rusty and broken.  Great image, huh? 

Well, I just knew there was life in this beauty yet!  I've seen the restorative powers of sand paper, wood filler, primer and a couple of coats of paint, so I got to work.  4 days later the structure was sound, and it was ready for paint.  I tried out a few test strips - yellow, green, aqua and purple.  I didn't like any of them.  I kept dragging the frame inside to show my partner and he confirmed my suspicions: it was still ugly.  But then I tried the red, and it sung. 

At the same time, I found a salvaged piece of wood in my stockpile for the chalk board insert and put down 11 layers of paint.  Woo boy were those fumes ever potent! If I can't remember where I live or what my name is in a couple of years, you can all bear witness to the fact that it's probably paint related...

But brain cells be damned!  I love the way it looks now:

And, hey, if you're in the market for an upcycled vintage frame chalk board, it just happens to be for sale on my etsy page :)