Lincoln Penny Frame

Jazz up a picture frame with coins - would make a great Father's Day present!

Posted by KMOM14

About

This project is for Day 12 of 30 Days of Creativity http://30daysofcreativity.com/ and the theme is Abraham Lincoln.

As he is on the US penny, I decided use 52 pennies, but other coins could be used. Including the glue, I spent under $3 for this project.

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You Will Need (4 things)

  • 9001 Clear Glue or other strong clear glue
  • Old Toothbrush
  • Lemon Juice (optuional)
  • Pennies or other coins

Steps (3 steps, 20 minutes)

  1. 1

    I started with an 8 x 10 picture frame from a thrift store.

  2. 2

    This is purely an optional step, but all of my pennies had been a jar for awhile nearly none were shiny.

    Because pennies are made of copper (pre-1982) or copper plated (after 1982), they tarnish due to oxidation and as I wanted a few more shiny ones and to have different "shades" of pennies so I used an old trick my Mom showed me when I was collecting pennies when I was young to make them readable so I could organize them by date (yes, I was a geek).

    I mixed equal parts of lemon juice and salt and scrubbed some of the pennies to make them shiny or shiny in places. I would not recommended if you are an avid coin collector because it can scratch the surface, just if you want to tidy them up a bit.

  3. 3

    Lay out the pennies (or coins) how you want them on the frame before gluing them down to ensure you have enough and it looks the way you want it to.

    I used 9001 clear glue for this project, but any clear, strong glue would work and let dry flat overnight before setting upright. If the glue is not set they will slide and it will look melting Picassoesqe and not in a cool way.

    I would not recommend a hot glue gun because it will not hold up over time.