How to make a photo frame with your own hands - choosing the right material, tips on decorating, photo ideas

What can be used to construct a base for photo frames

Imaginations of masters are limitless. They can create their masterpieces from absolutely any materials.

Making frames out of cardboard and paper is the easiest way.

From cardboard

Cardboard is a rather strong material. This quality helps in making a sturdy photo frame, which will later decorate the wall or a shelf.

Consider step by step how to make a beautiful photo frame from cardboard with your own hands.

1. Cut two rectangles, the length and width of which are 8 cm greater than the corresponding sides of the photo.
2. In one of the parts in the center of a rectangle, a little smaller than the size of the photo.
3. Glue the sides and bottom sides of the cut out parts together.
4. Cut out the supporting foot from cardboard and glue it to the back side of the frame.
5. If the frame with the photo will hang on the wall, you need to attach a loop.
6. Insert the photo in the upper unglued part of the handicraft.

We look at the standard rectangular form of the product, but you can connect your imagination and make an oval, square or polyhedral frame.

From paper

In any home you probably have leftover wallpaper or old newspapers and magazines. Artisans skilled in origami techniques can make intricate, assembled from several sections of picture frames. You can also make a photo frame with a rigid frame of newspaper tubes. They are woven together in various ways and painted.

The product will look unusual and colorful, if instead of newspapers used rolled up tubes of sheets of colored magazines.

With wood

Wooden elements are an excellent material for constructing frames. When making photo frames from wood, branches of willow, willow and reeds are considered the most convenient.

Workflow:

1. Prepare the necessary number of thin twigs.
2. The twigs are collected into bundles and fastened together with hot glue.
3. From the resulting blanks with secateurs form the necessary length of the future frame.
4. For durability, we tie and fasten the construction with a thin rope or braid.
5. Coat the product with transparent varnish.

No less original handicraft will look, if as elements of the frame to use wooden sticks for ice cream.

Made of improvised materials

To make photo frames with your own hands from improvised materials, consider ready-made ideas of craftsmen or use your imagination.

From ceiling tiles

In construction stores there is a huge variety of these products. It is enough to cut out a rectangular, round or heart-shaped frame from the workpiece you like with a clerical knife, and decorate it.

From a skirting board

The wall or ceiling plinth is perfect for constructing a frame for the photo. To do this, at an angle of 45°, saw off from them pieces of the required size and glue the ends together.

Made of dough

To make a photo frame, you should prepare dough, kneaded in a special way.

Need:

• flour-1 cup;
• salt - 0.5 cup;
• water-0,5 cup;
• vegetable oil-50 ml;
• food colorings.

Preparation of the dough:

1. Dissolve food coloring in water.
2. Mix the flour with salt and pour the dyed water over it. Knead the mass.
3. Add vegetable oil to the dough and knead again.
4. From the salted dough form a ball, cover it with a towel and leave to rest for two hours.

From the finished plastic mass mold a frame and dry it in an oven heated to 100 ° C. In the process of drying, you should periodically turn the handicraft. The finished product is cooled and varnished.

Initially you can not paint the dough, but decorate the ready frame.

From glassware

Very unusual looks decoration of a photograph with a glass transparent bottle. First, we fill the bottom of the container with colorful glass balls, coffee beans or any other grits. Then we twist the photo with a tube and put it through the neck of the bottle. The remaining empty space can be filled with dried grass and dried flowers, and the neck and bottom of the bottle can be tied around the outside with thin rope.

Ways to decorate photo frames

If ready-made photo frames seem simple and plain, you can decorate them, turning them into unique items that can become an original element of decorations.

Let's look at the most simple ways to decorate photo frames.

Decorating in the style of quilling

You probably have old postcards in the house. Cut them into strips, which are rolled into spirals. Fix the ends of the strips with glue, and attach the quilling rolls to the frame.

Using colored paper tissues

Cut the tissues into squares, make lumps of them and glue them to the frame. Carefully spread "roses" and give the product a finished look.

Use gifts of the sea

For decoration, seashells of different sizes and smooth pebbles are suitable.

Arrange the elements on the frame and fix with hot glue. You can paint or varnish the finished product.

Decorating with "gold" shells

Prepare the halves of the walnut shells. Spread them on paper and paint with gold spray paint. After it has dried, fix the shells to the photo frame with a glue gun.

Using of the eggshells

Shred the washed and dried eggshells into small pieces and stick them to the frame. Using a brush paint the shells in different colors and varnish the finished product.

Aroma decor

Photo frames can be not only beautiful, but also fragrant. In this case, stars of anise or cinnamon sticks are used as decorations. Glued elements have a beautiful natural color, so it will be enough to ennoble them with varnish.

Birch decor

As is clear from the name, birch bark is used to decorate the frame. Using scissors, we cut the necessary number of blanks and hot glue them to the base.

Such a photo frame would look very effective for framing black and white pictures.

Decorating with ribbons

In that case the base for the frame should be painted in contrast dark color. The chosen braid is glued along the perimeter of the frame. For completing the composition, it is possible to decorate it with colored buttons.

Decorating with cord

For decorating we need a twisted cord and double-sided tape. The cord is attached in a circle in several rows, filling the entire surface of the workpiece.

Denim decor

Cut straps, scraps with rivets and other decorative elements from unwanted denim items. Glue them with a glue gun to the base and place under pressure for better adhesion to the surface.

Decorating with yarn

Take a knitting thread of the necessary color and wrap it tightly around the edges of the frame. Items for children's photos are especially delicate.

Using disks

Break the discs you don't need into splinters and use them to cover the surface of the photo frame. Use acrylic paint in tubes to fill the voids.

Similarly to discs, you can decorate the frame with shards of old stained glass. In this case, the product will be bright and unique.

We have considered not all ways to make photo frames with their own hands. Materials for work are used in a variety of ways. This felt, velour, satin, guipure and lace. And for decoration buttons, brooches, coins, beads, beads and sequins are useful. You can always find the use of improvised materials to create a unique photo frame.

Photo ideas for unusual homemade photo frames