Recycle It over at Polkadoodles....

Hello again,

It's a new challenge over on the Polkadoodles Challenge Blog and so I'm here with my DT inspiration....

The theme this time is Recycle It!
Oh boy did I have a little panic about this one!  I've not really adventured far away from card making on my blog yet and spent a long time trying to figure out what and how I was going to rise to this challenge using Nikky Hall's fabulous products from Polkadoodles.

After much dithering, here's what I came up with.....

Recycled frame countdown chalk board!

My children were over the moon when they realised what I was making and we are still trying to convince them that we have to put it away until December lol!

Don't those Polkadoodles papers look amazing!

Here's how I made it:

Old photo frame:  This one I'd picked up in a cheapy shop and had in a bag for a while, it had two frames so I just took a knife (carefully) to the back to unstick the inner frame so I could decorate them seperately.

Inner frame: 
Totally awesome Christmas papers from Work and Play Festive Hollybobs Collection CD (which is also available as a download HERE and is totally packed with awesome digi's, embellies, pre-coloured images, papers, design sheets, bags and boxes, paper bows and so much more).
The papers were torn in to strips of approx 2cms wide and measured to the width of my inner frame.
I then used a mix of cheap PVA glue and water to decoupage the strips around the frame.
When I'd finished and it had dried I then covered it again in a layer of PVA glue, let it dry and repeated to create a seal.
Outer Frame:
I sanded the original frame so it would grip the paint and then put on two coats of Gesso.  Once dry I put on a full coat of red acrylic paint and then once dry two coats of white acrylic paint.
Once dry the frame was sanded back in places to create the distressed look. 
Tip: make sure you sand a little at a time, then stand back to have a look so you don't over sand it...remember you can always add more but can't take it back once you've done it, you'd have to start again!

Once both layers were fully dry I put them back together.
The chalk board in the centre was another cheat!  I found some sticky backed chalking sheets in our local Pound shop!  All I did was trim it to fit over a piece of card for the centre and then put the back back on!  How easy was that!

Embellishments:
I added some ribbon and bells that I got from a local store and then of course I wanted to use some of the fabulous embellishments from Festive Hollybobs so I printed out the North Pole sign, heart and candy canes in the desired size, all pre-coloured options used, and then covered them in glossy accents so they were totally protected when the frame is displayed :D

Here's the close-up pics:

Thank you for visiting today and don't forget to leave me a comment as I'd love to know what you think of my Recyle It project :D

I totally look forward to seeing your makes over at the Polkadoodles Challenge Blog

Happy Crafting :D

Sandie xx

Challenges:
Penny's Papercrafty challenge - 201 AG
Not just cards challenge - 5 AG
Fab n Funky challenge - 235 Christmas
Crafty Catz weekly challenge - 253 AG
Creative Fingers challenge - 54 AG
Hiding in my craftroom - 171 Holidays
All Sorts challenge - 282 Christmas
Scribble and Scrap - 30 AG (3of3)
613 Avenue Create - 95 AG
Moving along with the times - 30/10 Winter