happy accident

I have been wanting to add some chicken wire to a frame to create a little message board or photo display, but have always been too lazy. 

Because doing it myself would mean I'd have to find the right frame, schlep to the hardware store to search for chicken wire, fiddle with the wire cutters and staple gun...blah, blah, blah. Gosh, I'm exhausted just thinking about it. 

Luckily for me I found one at the thrift store a couple of weeks ago for 3 dolla bills! A deal and no work to be done by me - cha ching! 

But alas, it wasn't a perfect find because the color of the wood was all wrong. Our house is filled with darker, earth tones and I feared the light wood would just stand out. That of course didn't stop me from hanging it as is just to see if it would work - with no work on my part.

{Insert before picture that I took, but must have deleted in order to free up space on my camera to take pictures of this guy:

Like how I managed to work a picture of my little guy into even this post? skillz. 

...

So, we'll have to settle for this pic of the back of the frame, showing the original color. 

In another moment of pure laziness {you can kindly call it resourcefulness though, if you'd like} I decided to use the paint I had on hand instead of making a trip to the store.  

Chalkboard paint? Hmm, not a bad idea. I started painting a thin layer onto the frame and was immediately pleasantly surprised. The thin coat turned out looking more like a dark wood stain than chalkboard and I thought it looked so pretty with the wood grain showing through underneath. 

I'm so pleased with how it turned out AND how quick it was {a lazy crafters dream!} Do you like it?

xoxo,

Ashley