DIY photo frames made of paper, cardboard and improvised materials

Photos… They keep the most interesting moments of our life. How do you save your pictures? It is best to enclose them in a frame and place them in a conspicuous place.

But accessories that are unusual and suitable for the stylistic design of the room can cost a lot of money. And to find a truly exclusive frame model, most likely, will not be easy. Can a photo frame be assembled with your own hands?

Undoubtedly! And from the most incredible materials. And be sure that such a little thing will not lie on the shelf, it will be put on public display.

Where to begin

Like any business, the collection of photo frames begins with the choice of consumables and manufacturing techniques. as showmaster classes, photo frames most often do:

• wood,
• all kinds of paper
• cardboard.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. The imagination of craftsmen is limitless, andpaper photo frame For them, it's long gone. They work literally with everything that comes to hand:

• plastic;
• foam;
• matchboxes;
• pencils;
• cd discs;
• straw;
• twigs;
• fabrics;
• test.

Let's try to understand the intricacies of manufacturing the most interesting options.

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Cardboard photo frames

Dense material will allow you to assemble a fairly strong frame for the picture. It can be not only hung on the wall, but also put on a shelf or desktop.

The technique of assembling a photo frame with your own hands is simple. It is necessary to cut out two parts in size slightly larger than the picture planned for framing. In the standard case, the frame is made rectangular, but you can experiment if you wish. In one of the rectangles, the central part is cut out so that strips of at least 4 cm wide remain along the edges. If the accessory is planned to be mounted on the wall, then a loop of string or thin tape will need to be glued on the back. How to make a support leg for a cardboard photo frame can be viewed on the Internet.

We assemble the structure for glue, after which it remains only to decorate the resulting. Just painted cardboard will look sad. Since this template differs from a paper photo frame in strength, you can decorate it in any way you like. Make an applique by cutting out blanks from colored paper, or paste over with cutouts from a packaging wrapper. In the latter case, the cardboard base will not need additional decor. On top of a rather beautiful picture, it will look clumsy and spoil the impression of an unusual photo frame.

It happens that finishing paper has a great texture and a completely ridiculous color. Do not rush to put it aside. Just repaint the material in a shade you like, and feel free to use it to implement the idea.

Is the house full of old postcards? Fine! Check out the photo frame quilling tutorial.You will surely like the idea.

You can also decorate the blank with colored paper napkins. They are cut into squares, crushed into loose lumps and fixed on a cardboard base. Even the most distant from creativity cannot make such beauty of labor.

To decorate a photo frame from improvised materials, sequins and beads, brooches and coins, buttons and the remains of old puzzles are suitable. It can be sheathed with fabric, tied, braided with threads. Felt, guipure, lace, satin, velor - the list is endless. There is always a way to attach to the case what is in the bins.

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Paper photo frame

There is a desire to do needlework, but no idea how to materialize a dream? Take a look around. Surely in the house there are remnants of wallpaper from repairs. Of these, you can build a magnificent three-dimensional frame under the photo.

Do you know the art of origami? Then you can make more complex versions of products that are assembled from several sections. It is worth attracting children to such an exciting activity. Give them a home photo frame tutorial. For origami, you can take the most nondescript paper and subsequently decorate it as you wish.

Is there nothing in the house but newspapers? But they, too, may well be put into action. By the way, unusual photo frames are most easily created from such material. You can work with newspapers using a variety of techniques. For example, they can be folded into tubes, from which frames for photographs will then be woven.

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DIY photo frame made of wood

“Those who know firsthand the process of weaving can safely create photo frames from such improvised materials as vines and twigs”

Also a great material for handmade. The easiest way is to assemble a frame for a photo from twigs and twigs. To fix the elements in one piece, use organza or not too thick rope. If you want to make the design as reliable as possible, you can additionally glue the parts with a glue gun. To preserve the natural texture of the material, the product should be opened with a colorless varnish.

Those who know firsthand the process of weaving can safely create photo frames from such improvised materials as vines and twigs. Use willow branches, reeds, willows. Don't throw away popsicle sticks. They can also become the basis of the frame.

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Unusual photo frames: decor ideas

Did you know that a photo frame made from improvised materials is a multifunctional item? This is not just a stand for a good shot: it can be used as an element of interior decor, and not just a simple one, but an accent one. If the assembled photo frame seems boring and too simple to you, try to ennoble it and fit it into the environment. To turn a nondescript product into an exclusive little thing, everything that can be found in a sewing box and pantries will do. Let's see how we can use it?

Eco-style in the decor of a cardboard photo frame

Seafood

So that the souvenirs brought from the resorts do not lie dead weight and can fulfill their role as a “reminder” of a great vacation, remove them from the caches and use them to decorate photos of the corresponding subject. Small pebbles will be an excellent decor. The pebbles can be left natural or painted in fun colors.

Elements can be laid out, sorted by size, trying to create some kind of ornament, or simply in random order, diluted with other gifts from the sea coast. In any case, it will turn out to be non-trivial and pretty.

magic nuts

Remember the lines from "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" about difficult nuts? We, too, will need golden shells to decorate the photo frame with our own hands, and we will get them with the help of spray paint. Divide the walnuts in half, lay out the halves on paper and process with gold paint. After drying, glue the decor on the frame. Simple and magical!

Eco miniatures

The easiest way to get unusual photo frames. From the gifts of nature you will need:

1. Eggshell.

2. Small shells.

3. Thin branches.

We beat the shell into fragments (not into dust!), We paint the sticks with white paint. Now it remains only to stick everything on the base.

This light mixture can also be used to decorate a paper photo frame. The center of such crafts can be not only a photo. Place themed decor there, like a hodgepodge of large shells and bright autumn leaves.

aroma frame

A photo frame can be not only beautifully decorated, but also flavored to boot. Quite a pleasant smell exude anise stars, cinnamon sticks. Elements are simply glued onto the finished frame. Their number and location is determined arbitrarily.

Photo in birch bark

A truly unique frame decor option. You can get hold of a piece of unusual finishing material from florists.

Master class photo frame made of birch bark

The birch bark layer is cut into 4-5 strips. Their number depends on the type of fastening of the frame structure. An additional strip of birch bark plays the role of a persistent leg, so it will only be needed to create structures that will be displayed on the shelves.

We cut out the blank of the photo frame from the cardboard of the required size and paste the selected picture on its front part. Use colored cardboard, preferably green shades. Glue birch bark strips around the perimeter, decorated with buttons of an unusual shape (in the form of leaves or flowers).

Fix the stand and send the original accessory to its intended place. Black and white photographs will look more impressive in such a natural frame.

In fact - braid

vintage charm

Attractive simplicity technology. For greater effect, it is better to paint a cardboard photo frame in purple. Now you can glue a snow-white lace braid on it. To complete the composition, add buttons of various diameters and colors at the corners. An exquisite photo stand is ready.

Perky spirals

Multicolored curls of twisted cord and double-sided tape - that's what you need to transform a boring frame. We release one side of the tape from protection, apply the tip of the cord and begin to lay it, twisting it in a spiral. When all the curls are ready, we fix the strip on the paper photo frame.

Frame in buboes

Very interesting frame design. To work, you will need a braid with small dense buboes and transparent glue. A master class on creating a photo frame is not required. All actions are on an intuitive level.

The tape is glued around the perimeter of the product. The frame is placed on the surface. The inside is carefully covered with a protective layer of cling film. The pompoms are straightened and beautifully laid out, after which they are treated with an adhesive composition. The latter will need to be sprayed from a spray bottle.

After drying, the braid will become stiff and the buboes will not sag.

Options for decorating a photo frame with other improvised materials

Denim design

Even a child can dress up cardboard photo frames in jeans. Cut out pieces of the desired shape from old things and simply glue them onto the base. For better adhesion, press the workpiece with something heavy and leave to dry in this position.Now highlight the inner perimeter with a thick twine or orange twisted cord and you can insert a picture into an unusual photo frame.

Wax decor

You can make a great decoration for a frame from this postal accessory. We collect multi-colored sealing wax and melt it. Using a stamp, we make prints on the base. The finishing touch will be a bow of packing twine

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Photo frames from improvised materials

“The photo frames made of cardboard framed with knitting threads look impressive”

It may sound paradoxical, but the easier the material is used to make the frame for the photo, the more effective the result will be. Check out the ideas.

Incredibly beautiful frame will come from a piece of ceiling tiles. All that needs to be done is to cut out a figure of the intended shape in it with a clerical knife. It can be not only a rectangle: give an unusual photo frame more original proportions. Make it oval, hexagonal, triangular, heart-shaped. Complete the work - the decor stage. The base can be painted or decorated with sticky parts.

No less pretty frames will be obtained from scraps of a ceiling or wall plinth. We cut the segments according to the dimensions of the structure and assemble the parts into a given shape by gluing the end parts. Decorate as you wish. Fast and effective!

Photo frames made of cardboard framed with knitting threads look impressive. The base is wrapped with mohair, colored acrylic or other types of yarn. Children's pictures will look especially gentle in such frames.

Is a paper photo frame boring? Try to make it from a glossy magazine. Tubes are wound from its multi-colored leaves, which are then assembled together. For convenience and speed of the process, the sheets can be wound on a pen or pencil.

Refine the old frame with discs. They are broken into fragments and a pattern is laid out from small elements on the surface to be decorated. For greater decorativeness, the resulting voids between the parts are painted over with acrylic paints. It is more convenient to use tubes. Through their sharp nose, it will be easier to carefully fill the voids.

By the same principle, you can work with colored glass. Stained glass decor will look great!

But, perhaps, the most unusual photo frames can be called products made from ... dough. It is kneaded according to a special recipe. For a glass of flour, you will need half a glass of fine salt and water, as well as 50 ml of vegetable oil. If a color model is conceived, then food coloring is added to the dough. Mix dry ingredients and fill them with colored water. Knead the mass and season with vegetable oil. Knead the dough until done. Roll up a ball and leave it to lie down for a couple of hours under a towel.

Fashion a frame from the rested dough and dry it in an oven preheated to 100 (no more!) C. The process will take several hours, but the dough will not crack. Don't forget to flip the unusual photo frame. At the end of the procedure, the product is allowed to cool and opened with varnish.

It is not necessary to make the frame initially colored. Leave it white and decorate as you wish after baking.

You are not ready to work on a photo frame with your own hands, but you still want to add an exclusive to your house - use transparent glass containers. Roll the picture into a tube and immediately push it into the neck of the bottle. For greater effect, fill the bottle void with glass balls of different colors, dried grass, cereals.

Make an entire photo collage by attaching pictures to an authentic wheel hanging on the wall. The abundance of small pictures in photo frames made from improvised materials does not fit into the decor, but do you really want to put them on display? Combine them into one picture. To do this, you will need to assemble a frame made of wood or plastic, like a picture. In addition to it, stock up: small carnations or a set of colored pushpins, jute, measuring tape, clothespins.

The size of an unusual photo frame is determined by the number of pictures that must fit in it.

Arrange the photos on paper in the order you would like them to be inside the picture. Take measurements and assemble a photo frame with your own hands. Now, in the appropriate places, drive in the nails and pull the jute over them. Use clothespins to hang photographs along the stretched threads, like clothes are not on a rope. Your picture has been created!

The beauty of such a decorative element is that the collection of photos in it can be changed regularly. You can make thematic or nostalgic collages, photo reviews of recent events in the family. Creative and always up to date!

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Conclusion

As you can see, a do-it-yourself photo frame can be created from anything in a matter of hours. The main thing is desire!

Photo gallery - do-it-yourself photo frame

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