Thrift Store Frame to Hair Bow Holder (Organization)

Today I'm going to show you how I took a nasty old thrift store frame and turned it into a stylish and functional hair bow holder for my girls.

I'm really slightly ashamed to admit that until two weeks ago, I was storing Natalie and Michaela Byrd's vast collection of hair bows and head bands in this plastic basket on their dresser:

If you know me, you know my girls basically live in cute hair bows. They take them out when they go to bed at night, and that's pretty much it. I was only making it more difficult on myself by having to call in a search team every morning to find the right hair bows to match the girls' outfits.

When I had the opportunity to test out some of Krylon's dual spray paint/primer, I decided it was time to do something about our organization problem. The girls and I hit our local Salvation Army, where we found a frame that was the perfect size, for just $3.50.

The only catch was that it was the most hideous thing I had ever laid eyes on. And it had some weird sticky gunk on the glass at the bottom.

My apologies if you are a fan of duck habitat scenes. When T found out what I did to the print, he said "What?! That was a perfectly fine piece of artwork." Right.


Here are the supplies that I used to work some makeover magic:

• Ugly Thrift Store Frame 
• Krylon Dual Paint and Primer
• Fabric
• Hot Glue Gun
• Spray Adhesive
• Scissors
• Ribbon to coordinate with your fabric
• E6000 (optional)

My first step was to carefully remove the nasty sticky glass from the frame and make T take it to the dump. Then I cleaned the frame really well and wiped it dry before spraying it with a coat of the Krylon in white.

I am always honest in my product reviews, and I have to tell you that I noticed a huge difference between Krylon's spray paint and store brand I usually grab at Wal-Mart when I am in a hurry. I gave the frame two good coats to cover the gold, but I think one coat would really have been fine. The paint dries quickly, and the flat finish was great for the look I was going for.

When my frame was dry, I carefully set it aside and assessed the ducks. I opted to cover the ducks because the print was adhered to the backing of the frame, and I didn't want to mess with it.

1. I laid the print out on my fabric to roughly measure it out before cutting and pressing. (I tend to shy away from things that require math, precision, or patience)
2. Next, I used my spray adhesive to adhere the fabric to the ducks. The key is to smooth from the center out.

3. Once the fabric was stuck to the board, I flipped it over and began to hot glue the edges down, being careful to get the glue down near the crease, smoothing it as I went. I was sure to pull tightly enough to keep all those edges straight.

4. With my three coordinating ribbons, I cut enough to overlap the top and bottom of the board to be hot glued to the back. I was careful to leave enough of a gap between the ribbon and the front of the board for the hair bows to fit through.

5. I took the finished board and fit it back inside my freshly painted frame.

6. I loved the look, but it felt a little plain to me, so I used extra ribbon and some of the leftover fabric from the girls' window treatments and made three rosettes for a corner of the frame. I liked how it helped tie the room together:

My final product is so much better than a plastic basket of jumbled up bows. I can actually see what we have now (And we have more. We have a bow addiction).

The bows clip right onto the ribbons, and they don't slip at all. The Type A OCD Control Freak that lives inside my head told me to color code them. I had to listen to her.

It's hard to get a picture in the room with good light, but I do love how the "bow board" and the window treatments go together!

The girls were so excited when they came home from their trip to North Carolina and saw their fancied up wall. Getting dressed is so much easier now!

{Do you have any organizational challenges when it comes to your closet or your kids' closets?}

Disclaimer: Krylon sent me the new Dual Paint to try out. Check out their latest promotion, The Dual Duel, where Krylon is looking to find The Ultimate Restorer. To win this title, enter your spray paint restoration project and encourage friends and family to vote for your project as their favorite for their chance to win too.


Linking to Home Stories A to Z,  Tatertots and Jello, Thrifty Decor Chick, Positively Splendid