The Goal of this project was to make a great Frame made from high quality materials. I choose to use a liquid gold leaf instead of true leaf - but the bulk of this diy is the same - you can google how to guild a frame - and replace my painting stage.

First step - choose your molding
I picked a Maple wood Complex Crown molding from my local molding store.
measure by the inside dimensions and cut your 45 degree angles - so the inside dimentions are 1/2 inch less than the picture you need to fit (there needs to be a 1/4 in on each side to hold the picture in.

this photo shows this notch cut out.

I just took multiple passes on my table saw with the blade set up 1/4 in - and cleaned it up with a wood chisle and sandpaper

Step 1: Build Frame

cut twice and measure once - wait... thats wrong.

Ensure your angles match up to 90 degrees.
I used this video to help....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m80KxiMCyss

Wood glue and a few brad nails - will hold it in place while the glue dries.

Step 2: Plaster Molded Peices

I did not want to work with plaster (like the old gilded frames were made from)
So I picked up some molding clay and created two different mother molds

baked those mother molds

then used those mother molds to form the accent pieces (one on each corner - one in the center of each side)

baked them on scrap pieces of molding (my frame won't fit in the oven)
then glued them onto the frame with some liquid nails.

Step 3: Finish Frame

I am trying to recreate a gilded frame - these frames were frequently made of 100% plaster, or coated with plaster
I used wood - and just primed the wood with a spay paint primer - to have a hard surface to "gild"

I also picked a liquid gold leaf, I am going to "age" the frame - to make it look old, so there was no reason to pay for gold leaf, just to make it look old.

I picked up two different liquid metal paints - Bronze and Gold

I used the Bronze in the areas of the frame, you would assume would get more dirty.
and the gold in the areas where the frame would have been cleaned (over the years)

after the bronze and gold leaf paint, I "washed " the frame twice once with
some old coffee. this added a fake patina
then watered down some black acrylic paint, to darken (dirty) up the cracks and deep points of the molding, this creates a great depth to the frame.
you can google how to "age" objects -