This Dollar Tree Find Just Needs A Coat Of Paint For An Anthropologie Frame On A Budget

How does Anthropologie know exactly what I'm going to crave? Alas, their prices have never fit with my budget. Worse, their corporate ethics leave much to be desired. Just the same, I've loved scanning their wares to get ideas for look-alikes I could score at thrift stores or whip up with an easy project. The bubble-edged Amelia Frame collection from Anthropologie is a case in point. Each painted in glossy candy-shell colors that look even more stunning side-by-side, the Amelia frames are like a snack for the eyes. But at $20 to $28 a pop, these frames are also costly enough for me to seek out a cheaper option.

Dollar Tree stocks their home decor section with wooden bead-edged frames, also known as bobbin frames. DIY bobbin frames have been trending for a while now, but Dollar Tree's ready-made Special Moments Wooden Beaded Photo Frames cut out many time-consuming steps for a mere $1.25 each. I picked up three of them, one in each size and style that my local shop had on hand. I then grabbed three bottles of acrylic paint in the juiciest colors Dollar Tree offers, also at $1.25 each. With any luck and a bit of problem solving, these discount frames could pass for the Anthro version for just a fraction of the price and without the other cons of buying home decor at Anthropologie.

My three frames measured 4-by-4 inches, 5-by-7 inches, and 4-by-6 inches, each with a pale, natural wood surface ready to zhuzh up. The Dollar Tree frames come in the same sizes as two of Anthro's frames, plus an additional 4-by-4 inch one. Their designs are close to some of the Amelias, but not identical. Overall, however, they seem sturdy and have glass panes with a nice backing so that the frames can either stand or hang on a wall. The biggest tell that they aren't as high-quality as the Amelias is that the bead edging doesn't meet up cleanly at each corner of the frames. But I hoped a shiny paint job would detract from those flaws!

I shopped Dollar Tree's craft aisle for low-budget turquoise, lime green, and popcorn-butter yellow acrylic paints to top them with. A lot of the crafting paint Dollar Tree sells is tempera. I'd used it before and never was pleased with the finish, so I hoped that their acrylics would give better coverage. Having used acrylics for lots of projects, I knew that this type of paint often has a glossy look once dry. This was key to mimicking the Amelia frames.

Although the paint colors I chose weren't among those used for the Anthro collection, they complemented each other well and looked on-trend. Both the turquoise and yellow paints were Rich Art Acryology brand, and the green paint was Deco Art Crafter's Acrylic paint. After reading product reviews on Dollar Tree's website, my doubts about the quality of the paint — at least the Rich Art brand — seemed well-founded, but with lots of coats and some patience, I wasn't completely pessimistic.

I stripped the frames of their backings and glass panes and rubbed the wood surfaces with medium-grit sandpaper to give the paint more texture to stick to. I wanted to try anything that could up the chances of a quality paint job. After the first coats, they looked about how I'd expected. The coverage was matte, uneven, and lots of bare wood was still showing through.

I thought I'd try to thicken the formula with baking soda before continuing, one of the clever DIY paint hacks I'd learned online. I mixed some into the green paint to create a paste, and the second coat of green paint was thicker, but it became chunky and uneven. The turquoise was even worse when mixed with baking soda. As a last resort, I used the yellow paint as-is; after three coats, it looked the best of all three — but still far from the Amelia frames' attractive gloss. Still, I wasn't ready to give up and resort to buying expensive picture frames from Anthropologie.

I had some Liquitex BASICS Acrylic Paint in cadmium red on hand, so I scrubbed a bit of the yellow off with sandpaper and topped it with a satisfying layer of red. Not surprisingly, the effect improved by leaps and bounds over the Dollar Tree acrylics. I didn't have any other good colors in my personal stock of acrylic paint, but I know that Walmart stocks Apple Barrel Glossy Acrylic Craft paints for even a few pennies cheaper than the Tree's supply. The Liquitex acrylic didn't give me the coveted high gloss that the Amelias have, but I think a final coat of Mod Podge Gloss Sealer may be just what my versions need.

Once the coat of red paint dried and I'd touched up any spots that needed it, I was pretty pleased with the results. The lovely thing about acrylics is that you can usually paint over them with a bit of preparation. I think another rub down with sandpaper will slough off the yucky texture on the two remaining frames to get them ready for a new cover that's both shiny and smooth. Given the 3D nature of the wooden beads, it may have been better to prime the frames rather than sand them before painting. I didn't exactly work the sandpaper into the bead detailing. Still, I'll probably have to do that — or use a pointed nail file — to get rid of the baking soda-laden paint layers on the remaining frames before trying new colors.

It's definitely possible to make these cheap Dollar Tree decor pieces look expensive, but not with Dollar Tree's current stock of paint. Luckily, I'm confident that I'll be able to recover the other two frames with pretty hues for a low price and a little bit of work. Once they're topped with glossy Mod Podge, I'm sure my DIY will result in some convincing Anthro lookalikes.