I think my canvas is possessed!

A couple of years ago, we had fabulous family portraits made by our friend, Roxanne.

This was one of our absolute favorites because it looks exactly like us and how act in real life.  

I decided to have this photo put on one of those "free canvases" and LOVED how it turned out.  You can read about that here.

A couple of hours after we initially hung it up for the first time....using Command Strips....it came crashing to the ground, scratching up the frame.

You can read about that little adventure here.

Well, we fixed the frame and strung a wire across the back, and hung it back up using a Hercules Hook. 

No way that baby is going anywhere now, right?

Well, for the past year or so, no problems at all.  Then, at 4 AM the other day, we heard a huge CRASH and then multiple smaller crashes!  It scared the mess out me! This was right after Marty hurt his back, so it took him a minute to actually be able to get out of the bed, but I dove out of the bed and ran screaming for Jameson (Chelsea was at my mom's).  He was sound asleep, despite my screaming, and everything in his room was undisturbed (even though it is so messy, how could one really tell it was undisturbed.  haha).  So I slowly started back-tracking though the house trying to figure out where the noises came from, secretly wishing I had a sword or something in case it was an intruder.  HAHA!

I finally made it to the dining room, and lo-and-behold, the canvas was on the floor, AGAIN!  Along with my "Important Dates" frame, the containers, and the flowers in their container.

What the heck???

(I don't have a picture of this because, you know, it was 4 AM)

We picked everything up and tried to figure out what in the world happened.  Hercules Hooks are supposed to hold a ton of weight, so we knew that couldn't be the problem.  When we flipped it over, this is what we saw:

(Photo taken today)

The hook on the back of the frame came completely out of the frame!  

Seriously??

I can see if the canvas and frame weighed a ton, but literally, the only weigh about three or four pounds (if that much).

Not only is the the back of the frame messed up now, it also cracked the other frame that was sitting under it and bent the art that was in the frame.

It looks like the wall will be looking like this for a while.

So what is it with this canvas?

I think I've decided that it's possessed!

I am so frustrated!

Anybody remember this beautiful framed canvas that I got a couple months ago?

Well, I've been dying to hang it up, but wanted to make sure it was in the exactly where we wanted it.  After some trial and error, we finally decided to hang it up in the dining room because the colors worked so well with the chocolate brown of the walls.  I dreaded making holes in the wall, so I was pleasantly surprised to find a blogger who had basically hung every picture, plaque, towel hook, everything she could think of with Command hooks.  She swore on their versatility, reliability and ease of use.  Not really wanting to put holes in the walls, I thought this would be a perfect solution.  The framed canvas is not heavy at all (no glass), so I just knew it would work great. 

On my next trip to the store, I found these:

And on the corner, it says that it can be used for pictures up to 16 x 20:

Perfect for the framed canvas!

I followed the directions on the back of the pack EXACTLY, and even held the strips longer than directed...just to make sure it was secure.  The frame went up easily and looked great.  We were thrilled!  Every time we would walk by the dining room, we would look at it and smile!

Well, a couple hours later, we heard a huge "CRASH".  I jumped up, thinking it was Marty, who was working on a ladder in the kitchen. Marty jumped off the ladder and was running towards the living room, thinking it was me who caused the ruckus.  When we both realized it wasn't either one of us, we immediately went into the dining room...and YUP, there it was:

I guess I should be thankful that's all the damage the frame had, but man, I am so irritated!  Now I have to fix the frame, touch up the paint and THEN put holes in the walls.

Decorating can be SO frustrating sometimes!

Expensive look at a low price

Have any of you seen the recent advertisements for a "free" photo canvas?  (If you Google it, it's the first thing that pops up.)  Well, hubby and I wanted to try to get some of our gorgeous RoPoPhotos printed on canvas to put in our house.  We've never had anything like that before, so we really didn't know where to start.  I saw the add for a "free" canvas, and thought I would give it a shot.

The 8 x 10 size is the "free" size offered, but all others sizes are dramatically reduced as well.  I decided to "splurge" on the 11 x 14 for $9.99 (plus S&H)  Two weeks later, I had my canvas!  It looked pretty good, except for the fact it was just a little bit crooked.  But for $9.99, I couldn't complain too much.  It looked great, as-is, but I knew I wanted it to make a bigger statement with the use of a frame.

I went to Hobby Lobby this week looking for a frame.  I picked out a beautiful, thick wood frame, but decided to wait until it was 50% off before I bought it.  While I was looking though all the frames, I found a section that was dramatically reduced.  Including this little number:

The only thing wrong with this frame was the glass was missing, and  two thin stripes of country-blue on the inner edge.  I lived with country blue walls for 20+ years in my old house.....I'm not having any country blue in this house! LOL.  So, we busted out the black spray paint and kissed the country blue goodbye!

I brought the frame back into the house and decided to try the canvas in it.  Oh my goodness, it was PERFECT!  Even though these pictures don't show it well, the frame and the canvas match exactly!  Marty didn't even want to consider any other frame.  We set the picture where we could see it as we walked by, and would just look at it, just to make sure it looked OK.  Marty loved it, but I kept thinking the black edge was just too black.

So, I decided to break out my silver and gold metallic paint, and just brush-and-wipe over the black. If we didn't like it, we could just cover it back up with the black again.  Fortunately, we didn't have to do that.  It was exactly what the frame needed!  Marty loved the touched-up frame even better!

For around $20.00, some creativity, and a little elbow grease, we have an elegant framed canvas to enjoy for a lifetime!

Now to decide where to hang it...

I am linking to Chick on a Shoestring's Flaunt it Friday!