picture frame project

This is the story of a simple project turned into the world's longest, most annoying one.

Many months ago, I purchased two pictures I wanted to frame and hang in our bedroom.  I couldn't find the right sized frame in a style I liked for the pictures.  A few months ago, I had a Michael's coupon for 60% off a custom framing order.  A 6x6" picture and a roughly 8x13" picture were quoted at $31 and $47.  If money was no object, I would have done it.

Instead, I went to Hobby Lobby to get custom mats cut ($14 for three).  CJ made the picture frames for me with extra wood he had in the garage, and then he went to Lowe's and had glass cut for the frames ($7 for all three frames).

This is where things got annoying.

I bought white spray paint at Walmart, because I was there, and I figured it's spray paint and what difference would cheaper spray paint make?  I don't cheap out on paint for my house, so I don't know why I thought I could cheap out on spray paint.  Either way, I got one coat on and although it was very thin, it looked fine.  I sprayed the second coat on, and it bubbled.

I scraped it off, sanded it back down, bought some good, thick Kilz primer, and repainted:

I purchased better spray paint, put on the first coat, and waited a day since it was cold in the garage and I figured it'd take longer to dry.  I went back the next day to put on a second coat, which promptly bubbled up too.  Then I read the back of the spray paint can, which I'd never done before (because what could I have learned from reading the back of the can?).  The directions told me to repaint either within 4 hours or after 36 hours.  Whoops.  It was too thick to scrape off or sand down, so I had to strip it off:

Deciding that maybe the cold garage could also have been a factor in the paint bubbling, I moved the project indoors:


And then I decided to be really risky and spray paint the frames in my kitchen:



Two coats of spray paint later, still with a few bubbles, I finished the project, deciding I just didn't care anymore.  And, since the frames are going in our bedroom, it's not like many people will be in there to inspect.  CJ cut out cardboard for the backs, and now I just need him to secure the backs and add the hanging hooks.

Finally, the almost-finished product:

By the way, the deeply madly in love print is actually a card by Made by Girl, and "Lost Limbs #3" is by my friend, Emily, and can be found on her etsy shop.  (We have the large "Lost Limbs #1" hanging in our living room.)

Anyway, even though we saved a lot of money by doing the frames ourselves, I don't know as I want to make many more frames ourselves.