Everyday Estes: Measure Twice, Cut Once

I LOVE my husband! This project wouldn't have happened (ok, none of my projects would) without him.

Blame it on Pinterest, I have been plagued by "The Gallery Wall" since the first picture I saw of one.

When we got our wedding photos back there was a series of pictures of our hands during the ceremony. It sounds strange, but they are, to me, the coolest pictures- very abstract. Take a look:

These weren't a special request from us. Masa did it on her own, and I'm so glad she did! After seeing several images of gallery walls then seeing these six pictures, I immediately knew I wanted to display them in big, black square frames with big, white mats. I ordered 5x5 prints of these and started planning the wall.

Here was the inspiration:

So I took my little Pinterest-inspired self to a local frame shop and showed them my inspiration and my 5x5 pictures. They came back with a quote of $480!!! Needle to my balloon. However, since they were a privately owned small business, I thought I would try a bigger chain store. Hanging on to a shred of hope, I explained what I wanted to the nice framing specialist at the chain store, and they came back with a price that was DOUBLE the first- yes, near a thousand dollars. But lucky me, she explained there was a half-price framing sale going on right now where I could get them framed for around $500. It was like a dagger to my DIY-heart.

Call me cheap, naive, inexperienced, but I refuse to pay that much money for something that seems so simple. I am not belittling the people who do this as a profession. I think it's my genetic make-up to balk at something I believe I can do myself. I get it from my mama. Plus, I enjoy making and creating things. It's natural, therapeutic, and worshipful.

On the other hand, I believe there are things that cannot be DIY-ed, and I will throw in the towel and pay for them. Maybe it's the challenge Trey and I like?

So I came home from my pricing quest defeated and told Trey the prices. He said, "why don't we make them?". Genius and just what I wanted to hear! The boy is really smart. So we did just that and made the frames.

The first step was a visit to Lowe's to find the size of wood we wanted. We found a one inch square piece of trim that was perfect! We paid $16 dollars for the wood. On that visit we also picked up an invaluable tool- an adjustable square clamp that would hold the corners tight, so the glue could dry. During this step, I was a great holder-of-frames in place until the clamp was positioned perfectly.

Shoes, jacket, and iPod, thanks for giving me away. I may or may not have gone for a run during this step.

Trey's motto: Measure twice, cut once.

The second step was to create a groove or notch where the glass and mats fit into the back of the frame. Again, Trey excelled. The routing tool and a frame for the frame to sit and not move helped us accomplish this step.

The third step was sanding, sanding, and more sanding. I was sick on this day, so I wasn't much help. However, around this time I started researching the mats. I found a great custom framing website where you enter your measurements, and they cut the mats! $33 dollars (shipping included) for 15x15 white mats for a 5x5 picture.

Painting was the fourth step! I brought them inside to paint. After the first coat dried, I lightly sanding them again then applied a second and third coat.

As the frames dried, I thought about glass and assembling the frames, glass, mats, pictures, backer-board, and hanging wire. I knew I could get glass cut for 4 or 5 dollars per piece, but ensuring everything was really straight and the hanging tools were all the same level was important to both of us. So I took my newly made frames, mats, and pictures back to the first frame shop. I'm sure they weren't too excited to see me, but they were super nice. They cut the glass and assembled the frames BEAUTIFULLY for $88.

Now that the frames were complete, the fifth and final step was hanging the gallery wall. Here is where Trey's "level-headedness" and genius come back into play. He measured and measured and measured a third time.

And did some math! 4.5 + 3 + 11.5= 19! Our frames were 3 inches apart side-to-side and top-to-bottom. Using some simple math, Trey calculated that the holes in the wall needed to be 19 inches apart.