A DIY Blogger Challenge

A few weeks ago, I got an email from a friend of mine you all know pretty well. Kelley from the Polished Pebble emailed me and two other fabulous bloggers to engage us in a little friendly DIY challenge. The note:

Hey Artie,  I have a project that I thought might be fun to do and I would love it if you would join in.  I recently bought some fabulous old herbarium books (2) full of pressed flowers dating back to 1897.  There are a total of about 30 pressed samples in each book and every one has a complete page of wonderful botanical descriptions.  What I was thinking of doing is sending yourself and maybe two other bloggers 4 of the pressings plus the descriptions, which can be framed together or separately, to see what you would do with them.  How would you frame them?  Simply or more ornate? Primitive or flowery?  I was also thinking of putting the budget at 20 dollars for the project!  Would you like to participate? 

So I immediately wrote her back and said YES! I mean, who wouldn't want to take part in something that Kelley orchestrated? So, I waited for the botanicals to arrive, and when they did I got to work thinking, scheming, and digging through inspiration files that had anything to do with botanicals.

I had my own wall of hanging botanicals in the dining room, so I didn't want to frame them and hang them ... it had to be unique, and totally me - afterall it is sort of a challenge to see how creatively you could frame them. Plus, with a $20 limit on a total of 8 pages, I wondered where I'd ever find frames that would fit the bill.

Off to Buffalo Re-Use. Buffalo Re-Use is a wonderful not-for-profit center in Buffalo, New York (just 30 miles or so away) where teams of volunteers wonderfully organize a wealth of antique architecture stripped from homes slated for demolition. With houses in Buffalo dating back to the early 1800's, there's always something fantastic at Buffalo Re-Use, and if you're ever in the area, or within driving distance, I suggest making it a MUST STOP on your list of things to do in Buffalo.

When I was in there, I gazed at these gorgeous old windows: $4 to $8 each! Can you believe that? With the old wavy glass, heavy, solid wood and a paint patina that only time can give - you just CAN NOT beat that price!

Look at this great 8-pane beauty. Probably 40 to 70 years old with a beautiful green/grey/taupe paint that's just about to crust up and pull about. You could frame each of these  botanical pages in the panes of that window and it'd be a great display! But I think we can do better.

Then there is this one, with 4 panes. I could use one of these, and then frame the other 4 sheets with something else. What a vignette that would be?!

Ooo, I think we have a solution! The spindle room! As you can see on the sign, $3-$8 each, they're a great value - and so much better than what you can find at many of the big box stores!

I found these great unfinished stair spindles and old used post caps, used to give fence posts a little decoration. 5 spindles and 4 post caps: $5.44 (how appropriate!) Now ... what do you think I'm gonna do with these? Hmmmm?

Check back with me in 2-days when I unveil what I did to frame up these gorgeous botanicals, and to read up on the other bloggers taking part in this fun and creative DIY adventure, go to:

Kelley : Polished Pebble

Melaine : My Sweet Savannah

Andrea : Faded Plains

I simply can't wait to see what this clever crew come up with! I know it'll be amazing!