Floating Frame

Do you remember the menu wall in our apartment featuring menus from our engagement and the night we chose our wedding venue?  Here we go with another addition...  

For Valentine's Day, Boo and I went to Public.  As promised, we took a menu to commemorate the evening.  I'll admit, this is not the most special menu, but it's our first Valentine's Day as an engaged couple.  So, that's worth celebrating.  Also, Public has pencils with the restaurant's name and phone number.  We took one of those, too. 

I got the idea of a floating frame from Young House Love, you can read their post here.  The back of the frame is removed, and whatever you are framing is affixed directly to the glass, so it gives the appearance of "floating" off the wall, next to the frame.  It looks cool on its own, but even more so when it's placed next to more traditionally framed items. 

This is a really easy project, requiring very limited studio time, and minimal tools.  In fact, we had everything we needed at home, but even if you didn't it would only cost a few dollars to procure.  Off you go:

Tools you'll need:

1 frame (ours is a leftover from Ikea - Ribba)

1 tube crazy glue

1 frameable item (or 2 in our case)

scotch tape

picture hanging accessories

Directions:

1. Disassemble your frame by taking out any backing, removing the glass front and pushing back the prongs holding the glass in place (see photo below), and place all pieces on a clean towel (this protects your work surface from the super glue )

2. Clean the glass with any glass cleaner, dry with an absorbent towel

3. Apply crazy glue to the entire back of the frame where the glass sits (this is important because there is no longer any backing to keep the glass in place)

4. Replace the glass and press down on each corner and around the edges

5. Place a bottle or two (depending on the size of the frame) on the face down glass to help anchor it, let sit at least one hour to set

6. After an hour (or more if you have the time) determine where you want to mount the item you are framing

7. With a small piece of tape, adhere the item in an appropriate spot, making sure you are not exposing more tape than need be (after this step, I glued the pencil underneath the menu by applying glue directly to the pencil and placing it on the glass)

8. Hang on a hook fit for the size and weight of the frame you are using*

*This Ribba frame is especially good for this project because I didn't need to install a new  sawtooth hanging hook on the back. Instead, because the frame's edges are so wide, it sits perfectly on a hook made for 30 pounds of art, which I nailed into the wall. 

Note: You will not want to do this project with a frame that is especially meaningful since the pencil is permanently attached.  Also, if you are hanging something on a wall in order to hide an imperfection, this won't work because the glass will expose the wall. 

Frame before applying glue:

Tools:

Applying the glue (it will look spotty, that is fine):

Close up of the glass frame and glue spots:

And again:

In an effort not to mess up my manicure (hello - important things!), I used a gift card to separate the prongs that fasten the glass to the frame (chic, I know).  This is important because the prongs will be visible if you skip this step since there is no backing on the frame:

 My "weights": Windex with vinegar and Method grapefruit:

Final product before hanging:

Finished product hanging on the wall above our frame from Perilla:

What do you think?  Do you like the pencil addition?  

xx,

The Future Mrs. Wolf