Unique Crafts: New Views from a Very Old Window

Creating that special one-of-a-kind item for your home is not only fun but can also prove to be a challenge. There are a million craft ideas out there for showing off your family photos, and I have one to share with you, too.

Being severely incapacitated in the craft department, I needed something simple to work on. I sifted through some items which were left in our 'new' home. In reality, our new home was built in the 1920's and needs lots of loving care and renovation to restore it to it's former glory, but I wanted to also capture this aspect, so an old window frame seemed like the perfect opportunity to do both.

The window is the kind which has 6 small panes of glass. I love these! A couple of these panes were broken, and the paint was chipped, cracked and otherwise no good in terms of an ideal paint job - but just perfect for what I had planned for it. I got some rough grade sand paper and took to at least 6 different places and made it even more worn and old in appearance. I removed the broken remains of the shattered two panes of glass, carefully cleaned the two remaining panes which were intact, and then expertly broke and removed the last two with a minimum of blood loss.

I ventured downtown in search of one lone ceramic tile with a pattern or color appropriate to the area of the house where I had visions of the window hanging from the wall. The entrance hall seemed like the perfect place, it is a huge area and one space of wall is just begging for a small water feature to be placed in front of it, so hanging the window above where it will stand made perfect sense.

I found my tile, and asked for it to be cut to the measurements I had taken from the now gaping area in the window where glass once lived. I continued on through the store and bought a packet of very small nails which I planned to carefully hammer in to keep the tile in place. I also purchased two mirror tiles, and had them cut to suit. Who knew such things were still available? I was surprised to see them, but I got thinking about it later, the seventies styles are making a comeback, much to my horror - I suppose it makes sense in hindsight.

I was excited all the way home about my new project, I had a slight skip in my step and was already proud of myself even though I wasn't entirely sure my pet project was safe from the Thursday morning 'extra trash' collection. I could also write another 600 additional words regarding the minor incidents I had with hammers, thumbs and bad measuring skills while putting it together. But, finally it was coming along very nicely.

Almost there, I used some fine wire to make a strong hanger to display my masterpiece, and voila - there it was. I am so clever!

A beautiful old window frame was transformed into a very unique work of art and now sits proudly displaying a pretty mosaic tile of lavender and sage green, two mirrored sections just at face level for checking one's hair and makeup on the way out to lunch, and a darling picture of my family in the final space where they can be shown off perfectly.

I have since heard of similar window crafts, but I just know they aren't quite like mine, due to the fact that I overcame some huge personal obstacles and massive bruising while simultaneously giving birth to my humble inner genius along the way.

An after thought was to create an artificial decorative lead look to the remaining glass panels, although I have not yet mustered enough courage to tackle such an expert task as this. I love it just the way it is, and everyone who comes to our home comments on how great it looks.