Introducing Miss November, Cindy Gilchrist with a Hybrid Holiday Frame

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Hybrid Holiday Frame How-To
by Guest CT- Miss November, Cindy Gilchrist

The holidays are right around the corner so I thought I'd share a fun hybrid project that can serve as a great holiday gift for someone special or holiday decor for your own home.

Supplies:

• Wooden Photo Frame
• Digital Papers
• Cardstock or Matte Photo Paper (to print your favorite digital papers on)
• Miscellaneous Embellishments (I used buttons, ribbon, rub ons and a metal label holder)
  

I love the ease of altered art and digi papers - I love that I can print only what I need to complete a project.

When starting a hybrid altered project, that is what I do first:

• Print only what I need.
  
• I start by measuring the project, in this case the photo frame, to get the measurements of the sides of the frame.
  
• Once I get the measurements, I digitally cut the shapes to the size I need in my photo editing program and then cut and paste them into an 8.5"x11" document.
  
• I then think of the embellishments I will be using and copy and paste any digital embellishments into the same document.
  
• I try to print everything I can on as few sheets as possible.

When I first saw the frame, I knew that I wanted to do a Christmas project and thought a Christmas tree would be a fun embellishment to add to the frame.

• I decided to make a simple tree made from three triangles so I digitally cut three triangles from the coordinating solid paper in the digital kit I was using and pasted the three triangles into the same document with the shapes for covering the frame.
  
• I also knew I wanted to put "Christmas 2007" so I made a label with this to put into a metal label holder.
  
• After I had everything I thought I needed, I printed out the "pieces" onto a piece of matte photo paper.

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Next comes the real cutting and pasting. This is the "before" picture of the frame above - I got it on clearance for 25 cents - It really needed a face lift!

• I cut out the shapes and adhered them to the sides to the frame.
  
• Next I cut out the triangles and backed them with chipboard so they would be sturdy and not bend.
  
• I used glue dots to adhere the triangles to the frame, making a Christmas tree shape.
  
• I cut a piece of brown cardstock for the trunk and used glue dots to adhere buttons to the tree for ornaments.
  
• I thought the other side looked a bit bare so I added a ribbon bow with a button and some rub ons in the corners.
  
• I finished by adding the metal label holder at the bottom of the frame. Now I have this:

I didn't want to wait until Christmas to use this fun frame so I cheated and added a photo from a couple of years ago to see how it will look when its in use. Here it is - my hybrid altered photo frame:




Credits: Digital papers from the Simplicity Kit by Holly McCaig, Font is Love Letters, Misc. Buttons, Ribbon by JoAnn's, Rub ons by American Crafts, Label Holder - unknown brand.

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