For those of you that are not familiar with what the heck this thing is, head on over to here to read it. It was read in an address to the women of our church that was broadcast live in 1995 and read by our beloved Prophet (at the time) President Gordon B. Hinkley. It has since become an iconic piece of our religion that helps us understand a bit more about our purpose here on this Earth.
When I first saw this ginormous piece of wonderfulness, it was on a local buy/sell/trade page on Facebook. She had started out making them with the frames but pretty quickly switched to selling just the file for a WHOPPING $5 and mentioned where you could get it printed. Literally YEARS later (like 2) I finally decided where I wanted mine to be and set out to make it happen. (Check the end of the post to see where you can download a proclamation of your own!)
I started out by purchasing, downloading and printing this particular Proclamation from The Rain Barrel on Etsy. She is local here in The Valley of the Sun, but you can download it from anywhere. Obviously. ha. When asked by others where to get it printed, she suggested Office Max or Staples. I did neither. I researched to make sure I was getting the best quality for the money that I had. I ended up at Costco and printed a 20"x30" Poster Board. This is different than a regular poster. It is thick foam board that is very sturdy (for these purposes). I would not recommend letting a toddler play with it but it will withstand whatever happens to a picture hanging on the wall. Mine has been pelted with Nerf arrows and darts and is still ticking. I digress. I don't know if all Costcos do, but mine had the option to get this 20"x30" poster board printed in an hour! Say what!! This was particularly fantastic for my impatient self, because once I want to start a project, I want to start it NOW. So naturally, Big Sis and I set out to do this together.
The next step was the wood. I wanted a frame with a little more substance than some that I've seen out there so I purchased 1" x 4" pine boards for the main frame and 1" x 2" boards for the trim around the edge to add a little something extra. I couldn't find the right color on its own, so I mixed my own. I stained the wood using a 50/50 mix of Minwax Special Walnut and Classic Gray. It was the perfect color for what I wanted.
Once the boards are stained and cut, be sure to do a dry fit so you can make adjustments BEFORE it is screwed and nailed together!
I cut the pieces at a 45* angle to get a mitered joint. To attach them securely, I used a Kreg Jig to make the pocket holes so that I could get a tight and strong hold in the joints. This was my first project using a Kreg Jig so I followed this simple tutorial to get the idea. Gotta love Shanty2Chic! Once you get the main pieces cut out and the pocket holes drilled, screw it together using countersinking screws. The easiest thing to do is to buy the screws that are the Kreg Jig brand to make sure they are the right kind. I used 1 1/4" screws for this project.
When attaching the 1" x 2" boards to the outside of the frame, make sure they are standing on their side so that they are taller than the 1" x 4" so it actually adds some dimension to the frame. For this part I simply used a nail gun to attach the 1" x 2" to the frame.
The final step was attaching the print to the frame. Ideally I would have had used a router to make a ledge on the back of the frame for the print to sit in, but alas, I don't have a router. Instead I opted for staples. Because I wanted my print to be straight when I flipped it over to attach it with staples, I applied a piece of packing tape to the BACK of the top and bottom of my poster board. Then flipped it over so the print was facing up. Next I simply laid the frame onto the poster and pressed down where the tape was. I was still careful when flipping it but the poster stayed in place and I was able to staple it down.
DISCLAIMER: When putting this together, I realized that some of the wood had warped in the awesome record heat that we have had in AZ this year. My joints are not perfect because I only had the weight of my sister standing on it to help get the wood tight. I had the option to follow some tutorials to get the wood less warped, start over or live with it. In the end I decided to live with it for a few reasons. 1. I was not in the mood to start over. 2. It actually added to the rustic feel that I was going for. 3. I don't always mind when something LOOKS homemade. Overall I LOVE how it turned out and it adds the perfect touch to my stripe wall that I did when we first bought our house over five years ago.
Get your own Proclamation!
TheRainBarrel
MandyBradyDesign
TheGroveCo
WestWillow
