Le Finestre

The house was condemned.

Old and unlivable, it was being rebuilt slowly, as each supporting beam every piece of wall was replaced to make the vintage building livable once more.

We'd noticed the construction driving past the property several times, always admiring the piles of discarded windows laying in the dirt. As we drive by the house after a trip to the grocery story, Zack determinedly pulled into the lot and parking the car, approached the group of cigarette-smoking teenagers who stared at us from the front porch curiously. I watched in the rear view mirror as Zack pointed to the pile, the guys nodded and suddenly they had all laid down their hammers and nails to help us load the the old windows into the bed of our truck.

With a friendly wave, the boys returned to their reconstruction work, happy to be rid of their pile of junk, while Zack and I drove off, happy to have acquired such treasures for free.

After spending far too much time reading countless DIY wedding blogs, I came upon the idea of turning old windows and antique picture frames into chalkboards to use as signs for our wedding. Since the reception shall be at an old factory turned art studio, we have embraced our artistic and creative sides while planning our big day. Yet thus far all the antique stores and junk shops from Pennsylvania to New York had left us empty handed.

Eagerly, we unloaded the back of the truck, stacking the dusty frames in the garage carefully so as not to scratch the glass. Six single frames and 2 boxed windows laid before us on the cool cement. Thus our project began...

Early the next morning we began to work. First, we sanded the wooden frames, leaving enough of jade-coloured paint to give the windows a vintage garden feel. Second, we washed the glass and taped the the frames to separate them from the glass.

Third, we painted. One coat of white primer. Two coats. Dry. And a final two coats of blackboard paint. Just paint, dry, rub the surface with chalk and vwala! You have yourself a chalkboard sign.

Once we had completed painting the six single windows, we repeated the process with the boxed windows. I sanded. Zack taped and painted. And the end result made us giggle with happiness.

Since the glass was unpainted on the back of the frames, we had created a blackboard on one side of what had once been a mere window, and a dry erase board on the other. The goofy smiles in the photographs below say it all. Whether we use all of our new creations, on thing is certain...they are, indeed, quite fabulous.