This was a birthday gift for a friend of mine. She is in the process of putting together a sewing room and I was inspired by her art deco theme she is incorporating - particularly the sparkly art deco chandelier/pendant light she picked out.
I'm a big fan of unique artwork and I'm convinced you can frame almost anything. I began my search on ebay with a key word search of "rhinestone art deco". I found several cute broaches and other pieces, but these earrings were my favorite.
The key to making this work is to use a shadow box, or in this case - I found a frame with some depth to it to allow for room for the earrings to fit inside the frame. The frame was purchased at TJMaxx. I modified the mat that came with it slightly. It was a black mat and I used silver metallic acrylic paint with a dry brush technique to create the silver textured effect on the mat.
The background is black velvet. Spray adhesive was used to adhere it to the cardboard that came with the frame. I simply sprayed the cardboard with the adhesive and waited a few minutes. Then I laid the adhesive side down on the back of the fabric (which was laid flat, face down on the table). This insures the fabric does not have any wrinkles when attaching it to the cardboard.
The earrings were stitched to the velvet. I considered using hot glue, but I thought that might end up looking horrible and messy. Stitching the earrings on was more time consuming. I found I had to reposition one of the earrings a few times - but I think the end result was worth it. I think globs of glue would have ruined this piece.
Overall I like the way it turned out. The silver painted mat ended up being a nice touch and the black velvet creates a great backdrop for the rhinestones.
See my other post using antique copper jewelry as art.
