Out On A Whim Wednesday: Wire Bulletin Board

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Upcycle :)
There are times when old (and ugly) frames can be found in our home.  Michael is an antique dealer so at times he may purchase something that comes in a frame, but it is what is on the inside of the frame that he is interested in.  So, the frames will make their way out to the garbage or recycle bin...unless I intervene :)  I had it in my mind that I wanted to try to make a bulletin board using wire, so I snatched a recent "doomed" picture frame and brought it into the craft room.  I began by lightly sanding the frame (it was a dark brown) and the painted the frame with gesso.  I had originally planned to use additional paint, but once the gesso dried, I loved the distressed look!  So, I just gave certain areas another light sand and decided to leave the gesso layer alone!  Next, I began hammering little nails into the back of the frame - all along the long sides - with the nails being about 2 inches apart.  I then took some wire (I'm not exactly sure what the gauge of the wire was, but it was not too thin and it was quite flexible) and I would the wire around one of the nails and then worked my way down the frame - wrapping on a nail and then crossing to the opposite side of the frame to wrap another nail - until I found my way to the bottom of the frame.  I then worked my way back up since I had skipped some nails along the way.  Since the frame already had a wire for hanging on the back, I decided to just leave that.

Of course, if you didn't want the hanging wire to show you could remove it and just add a sawtooth hanger at the top of the frame.  I used clothespins to hang items from the wires, but you can use wire hangers, mini clips, or even altered paper clips for hanging too!  I might have to decorate those clothespins...they are crying out for some color :)  What can you upcycle today????