Doctor in the HOUSE! Guest Designer Lala Palooza with DR SONIA

DIY Photo frame Tutorial

Photo Frame Tutorial

Hi ,I am Dr Sonia S V  an ENT Surgeon from Bangalore , India. I dabble in various crafts as a stress busting hobby.

I am so thrilled to be the Guest designer at Alex fabulous blog . Her weekly link up parties are the best and the source of so much information and inspiration. Thank You so much Alex for this honor to write for your blog!

I love recycling and transforming what is lying around the house to something beautiful and useful.You help the environment as well as your pocket! Sharing 2 simple ways to make a DIY photo frame!

This gorgeous photo frame is in fact and old desktop calendar !

Photo Frame Tutorial

One side has hand made roses made from a 5 petal punched flower and leaves which were hand cut from an old grocery box.I drew the stems and swirls with glitter glue and added magenta rhinestones.

Photo Frame Tutorial

Since the desktop calendar has 2 sides you can make a double sides photo frame.On the other side of the photo frame I added some ribbon flowers and gemstones and pearls.

Photo Frame Tutorial

Added some red lace on the top border and some pearls on the ribbon roses and the flower shaped gemstones.

Photo Frame Tutorial

Materials required to make the Photo Frame

DIY Photo frame tutorial

• Old Desktop calendar- If you dont have one you can use cardboard pieces like I have done in the 2nd tutorial here.
• White Glue
• Craft Knife - should be sharp to avoid ragged edges
• OHP sheet[ Transparency] - Optional - good quality scratch free
• Photo - to serve as a template guide for your frame
• Thick paper,cardboard, foam or felt- I used 2 sheets of corrugated paper the same size as the desktop calendar. You can even use fabric to wrap the cardboard for a lovely texture.

Make the front of your photo frame: Take your cardboard/Paper pieces and center your photo on it and mark all around to get your aperture.

DIY Photo frame tutorial

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

DIY Photo frame 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, top and left] and reach till the right edge of the frame
Apply glue to 3 borders leaving a small margin near the aperture.And stick on to your desktop calendar.

When dry you can slip in your transparency and your photo

DIY Photo frame tutorial

Decorate your frame with stickers, shells, beads, gems what not!
My blogger friend Indira who was the inspiration behind this desktop calendar photo frame shared an idea to remove the spring and replace it with nylon strings. I threaded a golden ribbon through the slots of the original spring on the desktop calendar [This step took longer than making the whole frame! So if you want a quick and easy frame leave the original spring on!]

Handmade Punch craft Rose

Making a photo frame from a desktop calendar is easy as there is hardly any cutting involved, it stands on its own and you don't need to make a stand for it.
If you don't have a desktop calendar you can use cardboard pieces or recycle a cardboard box and make this easy and inexpensive homemade photo frame

Photoframe Tutorial

I am a bit of a " junk collector" and in addition to all sorts of junk, I dont throw away boxes either and this is the box I recycled into a photoframe.

Photoframe Tutorial

Here you need the same materials as  in the earlier Photo frame tutorial except that instead of a desktop calendar you can use cardboard pieces or a cardboard box which you can recycle.
You need 2 similar sized cardboard pieces for the front and back of your photo frame - thickness depends on how sturdy you want your photo frame to be. I used the 2 sides of my cardboard box

Photoframe Tutorial

Make the front of your photo frame as in the earlier tutorial.
If you plan on frequently changing your photo ,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. If you are going to use the same photo in the frame you can skip this step.

Photoframe Tutorial

Cut your OHP/ transparency slightly more than the size of your frame aperture. I allowed my transparency to cover slightly more than the aperture  on 3 sides[ below, right and left] and reach till the top

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 prettier.

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.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[ shall share tutorial soon on my blog] .

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

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 or an old desktop calendar to make a DIY photo frame. 

Since I am a self taught crafter  learning from fellow bloggers on the net and books,I like to give a bit back by posting tutorials on my blog. Do drop by my blog Cards Crafts & School Projects to check out some more of my tutorials. Thank You  Alex once again for this wonderful opportunity.