I took the old headlight assembly off my Vespa in order to replace it. I didn't have the heart to throw it away. I mean this was the one that I first began to do battle with -- I couldn't just discard it. Then it hit me to make it into a picture frame!

I took the reflector out along with the sink. I then cut a piece of cardboard that I could press into the metal ring. The lens itself is exactly the diameter of a CD. So, I used that as the backing to fit behind the photo (that I cut into a circle). I then completed my parts search by getting a nice wooden frame easel from Hobby Lobby.


To make it, I first used an old data CD as a pattern to cut the picture the correct dimensions. I just laid the assembly down on its face, lined up the picture with the lens and the placed the CD on top of it. The card board followed to wedge in behind all of this to hold it in place. I then set the "frame" into the easel.


There you go. I didn't have to use glue, tape or anything else. It was easier than I thought it would be. Granted, the lens kind of distorts the picture (especially this one because it is plastic and I melted it a little using a halogen bulb), but that just draws attention to it and starts a conversation -- about the Vespa, of course!

Now, all of you can go dig around in your old parts bin and find new life for your headlamp assemblies!