Cheap and easy picture frames

I got up the courage to take all four boys to have their pictures taken. I begged Grandma to help me wrangle them all into the studio. We were able to get some cute shots. I have been needing some frames to put the photos in and these ones have been in my head for a while now. They are cheap - and don't require mats. The pictures were printed off and glue sticked them onto chipboard. I don't have to worry about ruining a nice photo without any glass.

 

 

I started with half a sheet of 16mm supawood that Builders Warehouse cut up for me into 30 x 30cm squares. I marked a 15cm square in the centre of each board. Use a 10mm wood bit to put holes in the centre squares - just big enough to allow you to put the jigsaw blade inside to cut out the centres. Sand around the edges to remove any boo-boos for a nice, clean finish.

 

 

Take 4 lengths of 22mm x 50mm pine and cut to 50cm lengths. Mark a line on each that is 30cm long. This is the 'inside' length of the frame. Use a mitre saw or mitre box and saw to cut 4 lengths of 22mm pine with 45-degree mitred corners that fit nicely together Glue all the sections together. If you don't own a strap-clamp, wrap brown packaging tape around the outside while the glue dries.

Cut the inside trim to fit around the centre square, again using a mitre saw or mitre box and saw. These sections are glued around the centre section. Let dry overnight.

Use wood filler to fill in any gaps in the corners or between the various sections for a nice professional-looking finish. Let the wood filler dry and then sand with 180-grit sandpaper.

Prime with Rust-Oleum spray primer, let dry and then paint in your choice of colour (or use Rust-Oleum 2X heritage white).

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