Photo Frame Tutorial

Photoframe Tutorial

This is the first time I tried my hand at making a photo frame - I Googled it but could not get anything I liked so worked out my own DIY photo frame and hence sharing the tutorial to make this easy and inexpensive Cardboard Photo frame.

Photoframe Tutorial

My regular readers will be knowing by now how much of a " junk collector" I am- well in addition to all sorts of junk, I dont throw away boxes either and this is the box I recycled into a photoframe.

How to Make your own custom Photo frame

This is a very economic craft and pretty fast to complete too.

Materials Required to make your own Photo frame

• Cardboard -2 similar sized cardboard pieces - thickness depends on how sturdy you want your photo frame to be.

  

  Photoframe Tutorial

• White Glue
• Craft Knife - should be sharp to avoid ragged edges
• OHP sheet[ Transparency]- good quality scratch free
• Photo - to serve as a template guide for your frame

Take 1 of the cardboard pieces and center your photo on it and mark all around to get your aperture

Photoframe Tutorial

Cut out  the marked area at a slightly smaller size [ so that the frame will overlap your photo slightly]

Photoframe Tutorial

Place the photo frame front on a pattern paper,  foam , felt or other material of same size as your card front and again mark out your aperture.This is optional- you can paint your photo frame front and skip this all together. My friend Neha has a lovely tutorial on a photoframe [ discovered it after this post so editing my post]which I wish I had seen before I made mine as she has a neat technique to wrap the pattern paper.Here is her link: Neha's Photoframe

Photoframe Tutorial

Cut out the aperture from your pattern paper- here I used corrugated paper left over from my daughters school project .Stick this paper/foam etc to your card front

Photoframe Tutorial

Mark the photo aperture on the back piece of your photoframe too 

Photoframe Tutorial

Cut off a centimeter or so from the top central part of the back as shown so as to allow easy sliding in of the transparency and the photo.This step is advisable if you plan on frequently changing your photo as it allows easy removal and insertion of your photo- otherwise skip this step

Photoframe Tutorial

Place an OHP/ transparency over the marked aperture and mark out the size required - I allowed my transparency to cover slightly more than the aperture  on 3 sides[ below, right and left] and reach till the top

Photoframe Tutorial

Stick some pattern paper if you want to the back of the photo frame[ optional  as once your photo is in the frame this area is not seen - however if you want to gift the frame cover it with pattern paper so that it looks nice.

Photoframe Tutorial

Apply glue to the back of the front of the photo frame leaving a small gap of a few millimeters from the aperture edge. Dont apply glue to the top as this is where you will slide your photo in.

Photoframe Tutorial

Stick the front and back together and leave to dry well.

Photoframe Tutorial

Make a stand for your photo frame using a strip of cardboard. Take a wide strip of cardboard and bend one end up as shown. I have bent up a 2 cm strip

Photoframe Tutorial

Decorate your photo stand strip if your wish. Here I have used the same corrugated paper as the front for a matching effect

Photoframe Tutorial

Apply glue to the back of the bent strip 

Photoframe Tutorial

Position your stand strip at the center and stick it to complete your frame

Photoframe Tutorial

Your basic photo frame is ready

Decorate your photo frame as you desire:Use shells, beads, quilling, punch craft, clay craft , mirrors , mosaic tiles etc

Photoframe Tutorial

You can slide in the transparency and the photo once you have decorated your photo frame.

I made the paper roses using a 5 petal punch[ Here is the link for the Punchcraft Rose tutorial ] .

Photoframe Tutorial

The leaves and branches have been hand cut from this glossy green box [Now you can see how serious I am about collecting stuff!].

Photoframe Tutorial

Photoframe Tutorial

The gorgeous pink pearls are from my daughter necklace which had broken!

Photoframe Tutorial

I have glued on the base of  the leaves after giving a small fold so that the leaves stand up at angles

Photoframe Tutorial

I hope I can tempt you into recycling some cardboard to make a DIY photo frame. Do leave me your comments
Here are links to some even easier
Handmade Photoframe Tutorial 1
DIY Photoframe tutorial 2