DIY - Crackle Paint Picture Frame

I think it's about time for another tutorial.  My desk has kinda become a place for all kinds of clutter but I have also found that it's the best place for all of my picture frames.  Sitting on my desk the past few days has been a Bible verse "postcard" which I bought a few weeks ago. You can see it in the picture above.  

1 Corinthians 13:13  has always been one of my favorite Bible verses so I was anxious to find a place to display it in my room.

I searched for the perfect frame at the thrift store, because I'm the kind of girl who hates paying full price for simple things that you can find cheap at a thrift store.  I found a frame that had the right measurements but I wasn't too big on the paint job someone had given the frame (as you can see in the picture below).

I was about to put the frame back when I had a great idea! I figured it would be simple enough to paint over the frame. I purchased the frame for under five dollars and was excited to have a new craft project to work on.

I looked around online and I found some really helpful tutorials on how to make chalk paint and I even found a tutorial on how to make crackle paint. Since I was really in the creative mood I decided to have fun and experiment with these two tutorials.

These are the Tutorials I found helpful:

Chalk Paint Tutorial - http://www.clumsycrafter.com/2012/08/how-to-make-chalk-paint/

Crackle Paint Tutorial - http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2010/05/crackle-finish-with-elmers-glue.html

Below is my own tutorial of how I painted my frame.  

First I had to paint over the previous paint job. Since I decided to make my frame with DIY crackle paint the base color needed to be the color I wanted to show through underneath the main color.  I chose white and since white is such a light color my frame needed about 2-3 coats of paint.  

I added a small amount of plaster and water to my ice blue/green acrylic paint to make my own DIY version of chalk paint.  You can find the exact measurements for creating your own chalk paint in one of the links above.

I experimented with the crackling technique on some cardboard I found lying around in the craft room where I was working. I was skeptical at first.  It seemed too easy and I wasn't quite sure if it was going to work.  But to my surprise when the paint started to dry it crackled. 

To get the crackle effect all you have to do is simply coat your board, or whatever your project is, in my case a frame, with...  Are you ready?  Prepare to be blown away by how crazy simple it is... ELMER'S CRAFT GLUE!  You can also use any other less popular brand of glue that you are bound to have in one of your craft drawers or with the school supplies.

Once I coated my frame in a thin layer of glue I let it sit for about 1-2 minutes.  I was listening to music while I worked so I figured once the song that had just started was over, it would be ready for the next step.

You want the glue to still be wet when you paint over it.  I used my homemade chalk paint but just plain acrylics will do the trick just fine.  Simply paint over the glue. It's as simple as that.

Then the magic happens. It truly is just like magic. After as little as one minute you will start to see the paint crackling as it drys and the color you chose for underneath starts to show through.  

Once it was all dry I put my picture in the frame and found the perfect spot on my desk for my new frame.  I'm in love with my new frame. I still can't believe how simple it was to get such an amazing end result.

I hope that you find this tutorial helpful.  I always love being able to learn new things and I hope this is true of you too.