How to make a floater frame- Part 3

 After leaving your frame to dry in the strap clamp overnight, it should be firmly and beautifully together. Take off the strap clamp and sand the corners, and any other seams where two pieces of wood join. Next, smear wood filler into the seams like so:

If you look closely you'll see tan woodfiller smeared into the seam on the front corner.

Once you have the wood filler on all the visible seams, go do something else for a little while- read a book, eat a sandwich, take a nap, work on a painting, make up a song and dance to entertain your dog or cat- whatever you like while the wood filler dries. 

Now, go back and sand the wood filler so that it's nice and smooth. The point is that when the frame is painted it will look like one solid piece. It's a much more polished look without the visible joints. 

You're ALMOST done!! Feel free to lay your picture into your frame and admire how well it fits before the next step.

Time to paint the frame! First, I suggest using a spray primer. For one thing it helps the paint adhere and for another thing, if the paint should ever get chipped, it won't be as obvious. This part is moderately tiresome just because of drying time. Just allow for the time and relax. It's all part of the process. You didn't work this hard until this point just to get impatient now, did you?

Ok, so lay your frame down on a cloth or something to protect your deck, garage floor, driveway, or wherever you're doing this. Whether you start with the back or the front is up to you. Spray a nice, even coat of primer and then walk away and do something else. The primer should be completely dry in an hour or so, so that you can do the other side. I like to go ahead and prime the whole thing first rather than prime and paint the same side before priming the other side because sometimes little imperfections you missed when the wood was bare show up when it's primed. Now's a perfect time to fill, sand, and fix them. 

You'll need a few coats of paint to really get it looking good. Pay attention to the directions on your spray paint. Mine says to reapply within the hour OR wait 24 hours. I'm not sure why that particular timing is important, but I'll trust them. I really wanted to be able to show you my finished product in this post, but it's not in a good spot to photograph and it's still too wet to move. I promise- it's coming soon. Not that you need to see mine- you've got one of your own! Go ahead and play this while you present your finished frame to your friends. Tada!