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So remember I mentioned before I got Bryan a ******* (still not telling) for Father's Day? Well, even though it is a $100 gift, it is something store-bought, and I have wanted to create something to also give him for Dad's Day.

So I started thinking, and after while came up with a great idea. I dug out the family/Caleb portraits that have been sitting unhung since we moved in. They are all framed, but mostly in cheap oak frames from Walmart. So I bought some dark brown (espresso) and metallic bronze acryllic paint at Michael's and got today I got to work. I painted all the frames with the espresso color, then when they were dry I dry-brushed some metallic bronze over the espresso.

With the espresso paint, I also painted two wooden dowels I'd also picked up at Michaels. (I actually bought three, because we're expecting Caleb's portraits soon). I need to go back there to finish picking up supplies to finish this project.

My plan is to hang the picture frames from the dowel with thick ribbon. This is my inspiration...

but it's not going to look much like this in the end. My frames are 8x10s (four) and 10x13s (two). All my frames are the same color, and they most likely will be hanging evenly. My dilemmas:

• what to put on the ends of the dowels to give the bar a finished look?
• how to hang the bar from the wall?

Tomorrow before he goes to work (swing shift, 3pm-11pm), I'll head over to Michael's and/or Joann and find a solution. Then when he goes to work again, I'll finish the project up during Caleb's nap and after he goes to bed.

I plan to take pictures of my finished project so you can see how it turned out. Hopefully not only will I figure out how to hang the finished product from the wall, but I'll actually be able to hang it myself. That will probably have to wait until Saturday - I'll have to make Bryan go outside, which is not hard now that he has a garage to play in. I guess if I want to surprise him, I'll have to cover the whole shebang with a sheet - sure he'll know it's something on the wall, but he won't know what.

Maybe he'll think I made a mural, and freak out a little bit. :)