I’m excited to have the Father’s Day present for Don done early this year! Every year I take the boys to get their birthday pictures done at The Picture People. I seriously love how they turn out and that you get the pictures back in an hour! The other thing I just love about them, are the various items you can get the photos put on. Each year I pick a picture of the boys together and have them print it up on a tie. They are FABULOUS! Awesome quality and the picture looks crisp and clear! So it really is a given that Don will get his new tie for Father’s Day every year.

In addition to the tie, I wanted to give him an updated picture of the boys for him to display at work. This turns out to be a great project, since I will make two of them and give the second to my father. These are his only grandchildren and I really should be better about giving him yearly pictures, too. It’s always nice to take the time to deisgn one project and get more than one use out of it! *wink*

I searched at Michaels for a frame. I thought at first that I’d go simple and find a nice matted 5×7 frame, have the boys write something on the matt, and that would be it. As I started looking around I realized that to get a matted 5×7 picture you have to have an 8/5×11 frame. Duh!! to me! The framed pieces just looked too big so I started looking for a frame to alter. I love that Michaels carries some of the bare elements line! Their products are fabulous to alter! (to enable you a little, check out the fabulous bare elements items eclectic Paperie carries! Oh man! I want that caddy!)

I was lucky to find two of the bare elements 5×7 frames and loved the layout. Since these are made for altering, they give you a nice layout with lots of room for fun embellishments. The hardest part was figuring out what to use on the frame. I always feel like I get home with a project in mind, then find that I don’t have the “ultimate” paper/embellishments/ribbons to create what I have envisioned. I was strict with myself and ended up finding some gems in my stash of supplies.

This paper was too perfect! The colors and the theme of the paper goes right along with the picture and the theme of their birthday party. The rocket paper is by Around the Block. I applied Mod Podge to the frame, placed the paper over the frame, then let it dry. To get the paper to fit the frame, I simply sanded the edges. The spot for the picture was a little tricky, using sand paper and my craft knife.

For the embellishments I used the SU! chipboard pieces covered in some paper from a paper pack. The star was pierced then “sewn” with linen thread. Mini brads were applied to the bracket. I then cut some coordinating pieces of paper/cardstock and adhered them to the frame. Buttons and mini brads were added to the stripes. For the center of the star, I used my Snap Stamps and Everyday Flexable Phrases from SU! to put the boys’ names. I wanted to cover it with an epoxy sticker, but I didn’t have one big enough. However, I still liked the way it looked leaving a little space around the circle. Decorative scissors were used for the matt.

Be sure to pop over and wish Taylor a Happy Birthday! She has some blog goodies today to celebrate!