[check mark]

have i mentioned before that i am a listmaker extraordinaire? i looooove to check things off of lists. i have been known to write down tasks that i just completed (that for whatever reason hadn’t actually made it to the list) just so i could check them off.

i am also a packrat and hate to throw things away. i’d rather give stuff away or recycle it before i see it sent to a landfill.

i am also cheap. some things i have come to terms with spending money on (note my six brand new windows and new fancy back door with a large glass panel!), but some things just irk me and i always think i should be able to find them more cheaply somewhere. picture frames fall into this category as do most lighting fixtures, foam padding, and bodywork on my car.

today, i was able to combine all of the above pleasures into one (now completed!) project. when we upgraded said windows, we were left with six plexiglas panels and six glass panels that we used to have to put over the windows every winter to attempt to keep the cold air out. they are quite large panels and have metal frames. i also recently purchased 3 inexpensive posters of vintage advertising art* –rolled up into plastic-wrapped tubes–and was disappointed to discover that they were too large to put into the $5 ikea poster frames. we returned those frames and bought larger ikea poster frames, but they were $20 apiece. maybe ok for one, but i needed three and somehow my cheap kitchen re-do wasn’t quite so dirt cheap anymore. i even briefly toyed with the idea of creatively trimming the posters down to size, maybe off-center? but mr. happy stuff wasn’t convinced. plus, i wanted something big, to make an impact!

so before i opened up the $20 frames, i thought of one last-ditch effort when i got home and today i tried it out. i pried the metal framing off of several of the plexiglas window panels (which unfortunately left some rusty edges on the plastic) and, after cutting them down to size with my circular saw (wow. that only took up half a sentence, but it really was quite a bit more headache than it sounds like. i’m terrible at cutting things straight with a circular saw and i had to practice a few times, but luckily the panels were quite a bit larger than the posters and i had room to spare.) i clamped each poster between two sheets of plexiglas held together with silver binder clips from the office supply store. hooray! i’ve recycled the plexiglas, gotten cheap frames, gained more circular saw experience, and i can finally check this whole project off of my “could do” list. plus, they look really nice in my kitchen. (in case you’re curious, they’re just resting on top of the cupboards. i don’t think this frame idea would work as well if i needed to hang them. although you could probably drill a hole or two through the plexi–hmmm… that might look kind of cool and modern… or, you could then hammer upholstery nails through the holes if you wanted a more traditional look… the binder clip/plexiglas combo is an adaptation of an old martha steward ‘good thing’-i think.)

*is it bad that i hate the way that the advertising world tries to take advantage of us by appealing to our every desire and invading our every space (bathroom stall doors?!) and yet i am still very attracted to vintage advertising art? it’s really one of my very favorite styles right now!