Easy Rustic Frame 3 ways

You know I love easy, rustic projects that use up bits and pieces. I have not just one easy rustic frame, not two, but THREE frame projects.

 

I have a lot of old fencing that isn’t prime quality for my Etsy shop signs. Taking the fence board on a ride through the table saw nets me the perfect pieces to make these easy rustic frames perfect for mirrors, chalkboards and memo boards! It seriously doesn’t get better than this. I sure hope they are well received at Glendale Crossing Days.

Easy rustic frame #1 A mirror

You may remember the tutorial I did for this easy mirror frame. It’s an easy rustic frame within a frame.

How to make a reclaimed wood mirror frame

The inner frame is made by drilling 4 easy pocket holes. I use my Kreg Jig Micro Jig which drills more narrow holes than the regular K4.

 Pocket hole joinery for picture frame

You can barely see the pocket holes. I used 1 ¼” pocket hole screws to join the mitered corners.

 

Easy mirror clips

I used my nail gun and Gorilla Wood glue to attach the outer frame. These ⅛” mirror clips work a lot better than the ¼” mirror clips I used on the black mirror frame above. I set my drill to a very slow speed to secure these screws—I didn’t want to take a chance of cracking my mirror.

 

It’s important to plan your cuts to get your easy rustic frame to look uniform. On this mirror frame, fresh cuts are visible around the inner frame. The outer frame has all original rustic wood. You can choose to do yours in any way, just make sure each side is the same. Knots and holes add to the rustic charm, don’t you agree?

 

Here is one of the mirrors on my highboy chest made out of a desk.

 

Rustic frame chalkboard

This frame was made for a mirror, but I accidentally made it a little to large for the mirror I had. I cut a scrap piece of thin plywood to create a large rustic chalkboard! Happy accidental projects are fun! Note that there is a slight lip around the front of all of the frames. That is my favorite part and I owe it all to That’s My Letter for her original tutorial. You can see more details of how to do that in my post easy mirror frame.

 

Chicken wire memo board made out of reclaimed wood

I made another easy rustic frame and added chicken wire to make a memo board. You can see I added the chicken wire with my staple gun before I added the outer frame. I felt it would be easier to staple that way. You can also see the scrap (thin) plywood I use to create that lip on the front of the frame. I love how the memo board turned out using the reclaimed fence wood! Notice the color of the clips… look familiar? Purple and green for MRL.

These clips were given to me, but I think they came from the $$Tree.

 

I whitewashed one of the chicken wire frames as well as the chicken wire. I really love the way it looks.

 

  This additional photo shoes how I did the cut sides of the chicken wire. My Ryobi staple gun does a great job of holding down the prongs of the chicken wire.

 

As usual, I used my favorite d-rings  for hanging the easy rustic frame.

 

So, there you have it! One easy rustic frame made from reclaimed wood that you can use for all kinds of projects. It’s difficult for me to choose a favorite….but I believe it might be the chalkboard. I just love the dark black chalkboard paint against the gray weathered wood.

Do you have a favorite? Will you be making some? I’m sure I will be…..

 

gail

see more repurposed fence projects here