I have had this space at the top of our stairs on my ‘to do’ decorating list for a while now.  Our upstairs landing is dark and has been a sorting area for my de-cluttering projects as of late.  And  I’m ready to make it a pretty and enjoyable space for our family to enjoy!

As you may remember I made a PDF printable to share with the Catholic Sistas readers before starting a home décor project like this.  After completing this important step I knew the direction I needed to take to get started with my project. 

First of all, I decided that this project was going to be a no cost space and that I would use things that I already had on hand.  Last spring during the city wide cleanup I had found a large custom black frame and had picked it up with the idea that I would re-frame one of my other pieces of art with it.

If you are a thrifter like I am you know the excitement of a find like this!  What a gift!  The frame had been sitting out overnight and had some condensation on the inside of the glass.  I took it home and set it outside on our porch and faced the face of it to the west for maximum sun exposure and sure enough by the day it had cleared up. 

Here are the items I gathered that I decided to use for my no cost decorating.  The trash to treasure picture (for the frame), a green urn, a very special vintage guardian angel picture  (that was needing re-framed), a crucifix, and a pair of candlesticks.

The next step was to take the two frames apart in preparation for the guardian angel’s new home.  The trashed frame was obviously newer and came apart easily.  What I was not prepared for was the vintage guardian angel image to break apart in my hands.  *sob*  After a moment of thinking I had ruined this special gift I realized that I could glue it back together with Modge Podge and possibly also give it an extra layer of protection for years to come if I gave the entire image a coat.

You can see the pieces that had broken off here as well as the carpet showing the gap between the new smaller image and the black frame’s mat cut out.  I decided to use a piece of black foam core to mount the angel image to.

At this point I had to trim off the edges of the guardian angel print and use a Sharpie marker to hide the tear lines in the paper.

I’m not a super perfectionist when it comes to hanging things but I do have a stigmatism so I used a ruler to check and make sure that everything was square and centered.

Next came the coat of Modge Podge underneath and entirely over the top.

After about an hour of drying I was able to clean the frame and put my ‘new’ image inside!

I was very pleased considering I was using entirely free or found objects!

I found a couple of handsome guys that could help me hang our new artwork…. and now we are ready to finish up the space with  the other pieces to make a nice vignette.

Here is the final result which I am really happy with considering that I did it all with no outside purchases!  In addition to the items I knew I was going to use I also added some vintage books, a framed verse, a small dish with my grandmother’s rosary, and some snowball flowers to make the space seem fresh.  

Do you have a space that needs a Catholic touch?  I would love to help a reader or two with some low cost suggestions to bring the faith into their home decor in a future blog post.  Email me your space at hello (at) janalinhood.com with Catholic Sistas REFRESH in the subject line if you would like to be considered!