Super Mom got me this beautiful and extra long otomi runner for Christmas via Ebay and I was finally ready to do something with it! Originally, I thought I would just frame it, but because it's SO long it would be very costly, so I decided to put this project on the back burner until I had a cost effective idea. I thought about it (for months obviously) and decided to mount it between two sheets of plexiglass to give it a finished look and to add a little extra interest to the otomi piece. I also have so many super traditional pieces in my living room that I thought the look of lucite in the space would elevate the style of my living room and keep it from feeling to old or too traditional.
I wanted this otomi in particular because it features these precious little mermaids in the center of the runner... and who doesn't love a good pair of mermaids giving each other a high five!?!
This super tall and super empty wall was begging for something just like this otomi runner... it's just too flat and unfinished without some kind of framing option. I thought bringing the feel of lucite to this wall would be a nice contrast in style to the rustic/traditional china cabinet that the otomi will hang beside.
I went to Lowe's and purchased one extra large piece of plexiglass at $65 per sheet. I took it over to General Dad & Super Mom's abode-- General Dad has a table saw and a good quality drill bit to get this project underway.
We started by cutting the large piece of plexiglass in half using the table saw. We kept the plastic protective covering on the plexiglass the entire time so that we didn't scratch the surface of the glass.
I decided that I wanted to use metal plates, nuts and bolts to not only hold the two pieces of plexiglass together, but to add an industrial flavor to the otomi runner.
General Dad fastened a piece of scrap wood underneath the area that we wanted to drill through with clamps-- he then drilled slowly and carefully through each opening in the plate. I watched nervously crossing my fingers and praying for the plexi to stay in tact. General Dad told me a horror story about drilling several holes in plexiglass and it cracking into lots of pieces-- which is why I was nervous and unwilling to try to help!
Here is what the corner looks like after drilling the holes and fastening the nuts and bolts to both pieces of plexiglass. Keep in mind, the plastic covering is still on all sides of the glass to protect the surface and to keep it clean.
(Little side note, this is my signature when I was around 5 years old... I used a sharpie and went through General Dads tools and branded each one with my super long name. I know my Dad wasn't super pumped when I did this--- but it cracks me up every time I see this silly signature on all of his manly tools!)
Back to the otomi.... after drilling 48 holes into the plexi glass, we placed it carefully into my car and I drove it home to my abode. I cleared off my coffee table and started carefully removing all of the plastic protective covering to the insides of both pieces of plexiglass. I then used double-sided tape to adhere the otomi runner to one of the pieces of plexi. Once the otomi was carefully sandwiched in between the clean plexiglass... I carefully started removing the outer protective plastic covering.
Another side note, in a perfect world, I would have had a good 3"- 4" on each side of the otomi of just plexiglass-- but this was the largest piece of plexiglass that I could get my hands on at Lowes and I still feel like it's a great look. I looked into plastic shops that sell 8'x8' sheets of plexiglass but they started around $350... wowza!
Another side note, in a perfect world, I would have had a good 3"- 4" on each side of the otomi of just plexiglass-- but this was the largest piece of plexiglass that I could get my hands on at Lowes and I still feel like it's a great look. I looked into plastic shops that sell 8'x8' sheets of plexiglass but they started around $350... wowza!
I then placed all of the plates, nuts and bolts to the piece to attach both of the pieces of plexiglass together. Then Mister Husband stepped in to find a stud (besides himself) to hang this SUPER heavy piece.
And.... ta-da!
So, what do you think? It's definitely a different way to present art, but I really loved the way this piece came together. I would love to hear what all of you abode lovers think! I was thinking for a bit about spraying the silver hardware gold, but I may just leave it as is. There's a lot of silver finishes in my china cabinet so it may be a little too jarring in gold-- I want the otomi to shine, not the hardware that surrounds it. Thoughts? I hope all of you abode lovers have a great Tuesday!
0 comments:
Post a Comment