DIY Up-Cycled Photo Frames

DIY Up-Cycled Photo Frame Art

This is a really easy, cheap and fun artsy DIY activity that I did recently with Miss6. I made them as a gift to celebrate the boyfriend and mine’s anniversary. We’ve also been working on decorating our apartment over the last few months. It’s a very slow progress because we are going very slow and thinking about every little piece before we buy it. Whilst we share so many interests, ideas and perspectives it seems that we don’t always agree on decoration. Bummer! Where I want to do very clean lines with a mix of french country and classic (lots of white, wooden materials and simple designs), he seems to be a little more into the “geek” side. Our taste is proving to be so different that I keep threatening (promising) to make him a designated ‘man cave’ where he can keep all of his toys and collectables that he loves so much. So I decided that this little gift would be the perfect excuse to get some more art up on the walls, sans lengthy deliberations!

Further Reading: The Only Arguments In My House Are Because My Boyfriend Plays Video Games

I had planned to make these up-cycled photo frames over a weekend but as usual my plans changed and I found myself doing them at work. Of course Miss6 didn’t mind! She’ll happily enjoy any reason to take part in a little arts and craft. Although I did have to promise that we could make some more for her own bedroom that we’ve been repurposing and redecorating.

What You Will Need:

• photo frames
• acrylic based paints OR spray paints
• paint brushes (size relative to the size of the frames)
• paint mixing palates
• coloured cardboard or photo backing paper
• scrapbook sticker dots
• scissors
• plastic sheeting or plastic tablecloths

Then add something artsy to fill your photo frames!

I used a love heart stencil to cut out significant locations on a map of Sydney that were special to my relationship with the boyfriend. Although you could use anything to put inside your frames e.g. special photographs, ticket stubs from movies or festivals, restaurant business cards, jewellery etc. I got the original idea from these photos on pinterest, I’m completely addicted to it! I find that pinterest is great platform for bookmarking because it’s very visual (which helps me to remember things better). But it’s also a huge time pit – 5 minutes easily becomes 2 hours! By the way, you can follow my boards on pinterest {here} if you’re not already doing so.

Steps:

1. Suit everyone up in art smocks to protect clothing
2. Cover the work area in plastic sheeting or an old plastic tablecloth
3. Lay out the paints, paintbrushes and the photo frames
4. Paint the frames in your chosen colours and leave to dry
5. Whilst frames are drying, arrange your display art
   e.g. stick photos to cardboard or get a little crafty with some love hearts like I did!
6. Fill your frames and wrap with a big red ribbon
   

What is your favourite craft activity? Do you give gifts on anniversaries? Do you also have a boyfriend that likes to hoard collectables?