DIY: 7 Ways to Turn an Old Picture Frame into Art

We all have old picture frames laying around the house, tucked into cupboards, or hiding out in the garage. So why not turn them into something beautiful! I found 7 frames in my basement. Some without backing and glass, and couple left over my old store. I decided why not do something fun with them. So I did just that, and for under $13!

 I hopped in my car and headed over to Hobby Lobby where I picked up a few essentials. 

Scissors (1.99) Rubber Cement (2.99) Turquoise Acrylic Paint (.79)  Paint Brush (.99)

I picked up 7 pieces of scrap paper in brown and turquoise tone. These are the colors in my bedroom so it was the color palette I wanted to go with. The paper ranged from (.44-1.99) PLUS! Hobby Lobby had 50% off all single pieces of paper that day! Woot woot! Gotta <3 HB!





I also picked up these lovely flowers (don't they look handmade?!) LOVE EM! They were 6.99 but again HB had 50% off all items that were Spare Parts. (Yes that is the name of the company, cute right?) I didn't go in to HB thinking I would pick these beauties up, but they were such a great deal! See what kind of deals are happening around you at your local Hobby Lobby or craft store! :)

I knew I would need cardboard for a few of the frames that didn't have a back to them, so I grabbed a box from my store. If you don't have a box at home, I'm sure your local grocery store (Or Chelsea's Boutique) always has extra laying around. :)

Up-cycled!

 Now that I had all my tools, I was ready to have some fun and let the creative juices flow! 

1st- I laid out all the frames with the paper. I knew I would be painting two of the frames turquoise so I made sure the brown paper matched up with them.

Looking cute already!

2nd- I began to cut out cardboard for all the frames that didn't have a backing. (I had 4 of them without backing) Yes, most normal humans would measure them, I believe in eyeballing EVERYTHING. So, that's what I did! 

Not too bad huh? 

 3rd- I cut the paper out to the same size as all the backing of the frames. Again, I eyeballed them all. (I do recommend a tape measure and pencil. It cuts down on the trimming time) And then came the fun part!! I don't know about you, but rubber cement brings me back to high school art projects. And the smell... mmmmmmm!.. :D

I put the glue on the paper and then glued the paper to the cardboard. I'm sure you could do it either way.



4th- Then I put the cardboard, with the paper attached, in the frame. Voila! Beautiful! But what could make it even more glorious? How about some lovely flowers! Little rubber cement and those babies are attached.

5th- Now I had 2 old, CHEAP frames from Wally World, that indeed looked old and cheap. This is where my paint came in! I laid out some cardboard (so as not to paint up the counters) and then painted the entire frame. Don't forget the inside and around the edges!

Before

After

6th- While I waited for my frames to dry I took all the other frames, cut out cardboard for the ones that needed it, cut out paper, and assembled all of them. With the left over scraps my head start swirling with ideas to do with all the pretty paper!

I folded the paper and cut out hearts, just like in Elementary School!

I laid out the hearts how I wanted them and then began gluing them to the paper. I decided to give them a little 3-D pop, so I  only glued one side or the other to the paper. This turned out to be one of my favorites!!

I cut out a tree trunk and branches from some brown scrap paper. But it's missing something....

Leaves! Or whatever these things are... I was actually wanting to make flowers, but this turned out to be quite cute!

All I did was cut out little egg shaped (you could also do flower shapes)  and then started at one end and started working my to the middle until it turned into a spring.

You like? This was Colin's fav, he said it looked like a Dr. Seuss tree! When I glued the trunk and branches to the paper I folded them  so they  had a little dimension to them and then left a few places sticking off the paper. Same with the "leaves", I only glued the outer edges so the they still remained springy.

I took some left over scrap paper and made stems and a couple leaves for these pretty flowers I still had left over from the bunch. The leaves and stems I cut out and glued separately. (Not pictured, I went back to the leaves and pulled up and crinkled the very tips to get it a little dimension)

I did the same thing I did for the hearts, but this time, made little butterflies!

Oh look! Our turquoise frames are now dried! (That was quick)

For this cutie, all I did was cut out tear drop shaped petals and then sort of made a xylophone crinkle in them. I wanted them to stand up from the paper so when I glued them, I only glued the very middle tip of the flower down. I cut out a little circle for the middle and found this bead in a junk drawer. (I wanted a button but couldn't find one)

For my final frame, which was tiny by the way, I just glued on the two remaining flowers to the paper.

And we're finished!!  What do you think?? Easy, simple, and a lot of fun! Once we get moved into our new house, I will hang these up and show you how cute they will be grouped together on a wall. I just love them!

After seeing them all laid out together, I decided this one was missing a little something at the bottom. So I added a piece of scrap paper to the bottom to fill in some of the space. Now, I adore it!


Did you like this blog? Then make sure you subscribe!! We will be doing a weekly DIY project!! With step-by-step pictures from fun and IN-EXPENSIVE projects I've done myself. (So you know it's doable!)  Plus we add lots of fun fashion tips and tricks. Who doesn't love that?