Nailed It - Washi Tape Frame

If you are even the slightest bit interested in crafting, you would have heard of Washi Tape and seen all of the wonderful and fun things to do with it on Pinterest (there are whole boards dedicated to it), on other crafty type sites and blogs and you may have seen a project or two on the DIY network...

So, I've kind of been fascinated with this stuff. I did some research (as you do) and found that it was originally a Japanese paper used in paper crafting like origami and even used to create statues of Buddha (who knew?!). But it's also something on the costly side, so till recently, I've kind of put off buying any to do anything with. Then Target came out with some (not super good quality, but the stuff works), Michaels got a bunch of new types in (somewhat cheaper) and then Pick Your Plum had an awesome deal going where they were closer to $1.50 a roll rather than $4.00 - and this is the good stuff.

So, now that I had some on hand, I was actually at a loss as to what to do with it first. Then I remembered seeing this great little tutorial (and yes, I totally snagged that free printable quote) and thought 'I could totally do that', and you know me, I totally did.

I already had the washi tape on hand, and the paint (and paint brush, duh) so all I needed was a frame. And as luck would have it, Michaels was having one of their fun sales where tons of stuff is 60% off, so I grabbed two (one is for a later project), and for a grand total of $4 I was ready to rock and roll.

So, quick breakdown of what I used:

• Washi tape (of course) in purple
• Wooden frame 
• White paint and paint brush
• Exacto Knife (for cleaning up the edges)
• Mod Podge and brush (for sealing it and keeping everything in place

The 'fun stuff'

I grabbed my white paint (to make the frame look more finished and as washi tape is translucent it helps to have a more solid background to enhance the colors and pattern) and brush and just painted the frame - I gave it two light coats, so more of a white washing than an actual painting.

Once it had dried, I started applying the washi tape - I started at the sides first, and worked in from both sides, so that when I got to the middle, I could adjust the tape to fit.

Why yes, those are shot glasses...

When I was happy with how it looked, I flipped it over and trimmed up the sides with an Exacto Knife (I didn't do the insides as the way the frame was made it look a little funky, so I trimmed them up also), and then I gave it two coats of Mod Podge to seal it (you know how I love me some Mod Podge).

Almost done

Let it sit overnight, put the picture in it and ta-da!! Quick and simple upgrade to an ordinary frame. 

Now that I've done this one, I'm thinking some of our old frames could do with some washi love (and I can hear M sigh from here). And maybe a potential Mother's Day gift or two in there...

Ta-da!! (don't you just love the owl? My talented
friend Sierra made that)

So beautiful people, what do you think? Did I nail this one?

K