Let’s get to some DIYing! Or in this case a mini DIY project, this is the Easiest DIY picture frame – Simple steps to display art! I have made a few frames for wall art in the past, but these I am sharing turned out so good!
My fireplace is going through a bit of a transformation, it got a little nip and tuck. I added the shiplap to the wall as well as decorated it with new items for Spring. I am loving the fresh and clean look to this fireplace now. Holy Shiplap I am in love with this space! Before I get into the tutorial for these DIY picture frames, I want to talk about the prints themselves. They are stunning, and created from the incredibly talented Stephie Jones. I fell in love with her watercolor and gouache paintings right away. She is from Virginia Beach and is inspired by the beach for all of her coastal prints. There is a lot of other prints, not just beach related. She has a amazing set-up for any visitors to her site that sign up for the newsletter receive a free digital print download! I received these prints to download, then I chose where I was going to have them printed and then that is it! The quality of them are top notch!
If you are like me, you see wall art as a big part of the decorating process. I wanted to do these beauties right, so the plan is to create a custom frame. These two large prints I ordered in an over sized 20×20. I am going to create a frame for them, with a portion of the back showing. So the end result is an illusion of a matte board framing the pictures.
I ended up with two (add size boards here). I also used long and thing wood boards, they are 2 inches wide and will be perfect for the frame!
Measuring the length needed, setting my (table or miter?) saw to a 45 degree angle.. ignoring the mess of wood dust surrounding this. Eek, that is rough looking.
Perfect cut! I always cut this a little longer than is needed, so that is necessary I can cut more. It allows me wiggle room to adjust things.
They fit! Notice the extra wood piece? When selecting this kind of wood for a frame make sure they are not warped. A lot of times I have to pick and choose certain ones in the store. Any that are warped will make it difficult to lay the frame flat. The extra piece was a little too curved, it would not lay straight on the boards. So I had to cut another one.
These are not connected yet to the board. Once they are connected they get the perfectly snug fit needed to make these two ends be flush. If you still have issues get some wood filler and rub it into the crack. Once dry you can sand down any lines and then paint over it.
I painted the large backing boards with two coats of white paint. Remember this is what will give off that matte frame look. These backing boards are also what will keep these frames together, giving it the structure. It does not matter too much what kind of boards you get, I would just not recommend to go thinner than 1 inch, otherwise you run into problems of them not being sturdy enough to keep the frame together. They will potentially bend or warp over time if they are too thin.
My love of all things turquoise is back in a big way. When I saw these beach and water pictures I immediately thought of a bold turquoise frame. Which is actually what made me decide to DIY these. Aside from saving a ton of money (good luck trying to find a low cost, large and square frame) but I would take that expensive frame and then paint it turquoise. I decided to DIY it and save me the hassle and money!
Using a ton of wood glue, and laying it onto the back of the frame boards.
Press them into place!
There is two options to make this work, I forgot to take a picture of the clamps I put into place for these. I had the clamps on each side of each frame piece for about an hour. Making sure it did not move while the wood glue was adhering. If you do not have clamps, small nails can be used to attach the frame pieces onto the backing as well. You can just touch up with a little paint to cover the nail holes.
Now to attach the pretty pictures! I measured where the center of the board would be. Adjusting the prints until I had them pretty evenly centered.
I marked each corner with a pencil.
Then remove the print and using a spray adhesive I sprayed the entire center backing. I forgot to have a picture of this as well. The above picture is me finding my corner marks to place the print in the correct spot. Since there are two of these pictures I wanted to have everything be as identical as possible, one picture being off centered will be pretty obvious.
Once I had it place properly, start from the center and work to the sides, smoothing out any bubbles. You have to really be careful with this part. Because of the prints and the waves it is not too obvious if there is a few bubbles under the picture. But with a different print it would be very obvious if there was bubbled up pieces. Take your time and smooth it all out. Once all smooth then go and smooth the sides to make sure no end or corners will pop up.
That is it! These beauties are done! These pictures are titled The Swell and Flow, you can find them by clicking on the name. I also have the Inhale, Exhale print but life happened and my kids spilled milk on it before I could take pictures. whomp, whomp. So I am ordering another print and will make a frame for that as well. I will also update this post to show that picture as well. Aren’t kids fun?! See, my home may be “Pinterest” ready but I still have kids that spill things, although it was my fault for setting the picture on the dinner table… even if no one was eating on it I should have seen the error in my ways beforehand.
I love that the DIY picture frame works so well with these. Because I made them myself they make this art pop in the perfect way. Custom art at over half the price. Wohoo!
The colors in these are gorgeous! It makes me miss home (San Diego, California) so much!
If I just stare at these and not out the window I can almost feel the ocean breeze and smell the salt water. Let’s just ignore the piles of snow on the ground here in Wisconsin, M’Kay?
I warned you, this is truly the Easiest DIY picture frame – Simple steps to display art! I have always loved wall art, it can really make a space. Getting large scale pieces can cost a pretty penny. For years I did not decorate my fireplace mantel correct because I was using too small of scale items. I did not think outside of the box with decor, just looking at the big over sized wall art pieces in store and knowing I could not splurge hundreds of dollars for one picture. Now that I DIY things, it has opened up a world of options to me. I customize and create the perfect art for my home, making it myself or getting prints to download and create a frame. All such low cost options to keep that decorating budget down! Now my fireplace has the correct scale with the decor items, and my bank account (or husband) is not crying over the extensive charges. Win/win for all!
How crafty of you! They are great picture frames and very versatile. Could be put in different places of the house. Great job doing it on your own. I might consider doing one too soon.
Thanks so much! I will be moving these around my home for sure!
Those are beautiful. I am loving the whole nautical feel.
Thank you!
That came out really awesome. I love the color you chose for the wood, too. It’s super pretty.
Thank you! I love using pops of blue in my home!
I love the turquoise of the frames against the dark blue wall. Very pretty! And those prints are gorgeous, too!
Thank you! I fell in love with those prints too!
Oh wow, you DIY skills are above and beyond anything that I create. I would’ve bought the frames online for cheap and then spray painted them instead!
Thank you so much for your sweet words! These frames are actually very simple to make.
I love the royal blue color you chose for the shiplap on the wall. I bet your home has a really nice coastal feel to it. I’m loving all things shiplap lately!
Thank you! My home does have a coastal feel for sure, I grew up in Southern California so that is the decorating style that comes naturally to me.
First of all let me just say that you are awesome. There is a high possibility that I would cut off a hand or finger attempting this on my own. I love the frame, but I am so not crafty.
Ha ha, I used to be scared of power tools too! The first few times I used a table saw I held my breathe and expected there to be blood. Now, I love using all of the tools!
I love these picture frames! And the artwork inside. I love any kind of crafting that lets me use power tools.
I am right there with you on the crafts and using power tools! They are fun!
This is so cool and such a great idea! But its getting the time to do it! 😀 Maybe one day………
It does take time to do things like this. This is what I do for fun so I am able to squeeze in the time to craft!
Those are so pretty. I love the pictures you used too.
Thank you! The pictures are stunning and created by such a talented person! I linked the source within the post.
You’re amazing! That turned out so well, and it honestly looks easy enough for me to do it.
Thank you! These frames are very simple to make!
Wow, those frames look great. I would have never guessed that you had made them yourself!
Thank you so much!
It’d be cool to try to make one of these, but I doubt it’d be as simply as how you made it looks like… Still an awesome idea and the frames you created look amazing!
Thank you! Making frames like this only take a few cuts and some wood glue or nails, they are a pretty easy DIY project.
Those frames are too cute. I love making things, but as I don’t have all the tools needed, I can’t do something like this unless I have my brother in law cut it down to size for me lol. Thanks for sharing!
The nice thing about these frames is that you could have someone cut the boards for you since it is just a few simple cuts. Then you could put it together yourself.
I love it! I need help….there is a “quote” “statement” I love and would really love to do something like this. But every time I try to print it off the computer…it is so small scale….how do I enlarge the font to my liking? I would love something about 20 x 20 ish…
Thanks I’m advance
Laura
Hmmm, You can try to send the image to any place where they print pictures, even Walgreens or Walmart and then you can select the size of the image you want. Usually those are really low cost options. To get this size image I downloaded the picture from the the painters files, then used EZ print to choose a 20×20 option. I hope this is helpful to you!
I think you’ve inspired me to learn how to use our saw! These are beautiful. I’d love to try something similar.
Something like this is a great way to being using a saw and making DIY projects. These have a few simple cuts to the wood, really easy to try.
The frames look great! I hadn’t ever thought about making my own picture frames. Thanks for sharing how easy it can be!
Thank you!
I definitely love how it looks. You picked the perfect colors too. It goes so well with the rest of the area. I love DIY project like this! They’re always so fun.
Thank you! I had a lot of fun picking the pictures and then creating the frames.
Those are so pretty! I love the beachy artwork and the color of those frames is gorgeous. You make it look so easy!
Thank you so much!
I wish I saw this earlier this year. I was looking for the perfect size frame and never thought to do it myself. This makes a difference to me seeing it. Very helpful craft idea to share. Thanks!
It can be so difficult to find the right sized frame. I have spent a ton of money in the past creating a custom frame from a store. It is good to have that option but a more cost effective option like making them yourself is good too!
Your house is so lovely! Almost everything you have there has been made by your own hands, which makes it priceless! I wish I had as much crafting ability as you!
Thank you! I have created a lot for my home, which I love because it feels special to my family this way. I enjoy crafting a lot!
This is such a great idea to create some affordable works of art for your home 🙂 The prints you chose were so nice btw 🙂
The prints are gorgeous, there are so many options on her site!
I love how easy you’ve made it! Even I can do it! 🙂 Thank you for sharing it!
You can do it! 🙂
Those frames good great! Good Job! And you fireplace decor is super cute!
Thank you so much!
This is really great to know! I have a few pictures that I can’t find frames for so I should just make my own!
Awesome, I am so glad you found this helpful!
These are beautiful pieces of art. I love how they look. I am just always impressed about the wood working that you do.
Thank you so much David!
This is so pretty! I want to make one, too!!!
Thanks!
Never thought of making my own frames! They look great and I love the color. Adding this to my DIY projects to try. Thanks!
Awesome, I hope you have fun making your own!
I’m always looking for more works of art to display in my home. This is a great DIY and the results look so cool. I’m totally trying this!
Awesome to hear, I am happy that your found this helpful!
It is gorgeous, it completes the mantle set up perfectly. Turquoise was the perfect color choice.
Thank you!
Love this! You did a great job 🙂
Thanks!
That’s a fun and beautiful DIY project! My husband always buy new frames from the store.. I should let him follow this tutorial.
Thank you! I hope if he does make some frames he finds this helpful!