Friday, June 22, 2012

Friday Fun!

Welcome to Friday Fun! Today I'm going to show you how to alter a picture frame mat to make an adorable accent for any photo or a great gift for someone special!  This project takes approximately an hour to complete and is super easy. 

Supplies:
One picture frame- any size
Patterned paper cut into assorted sizes
Decoupage or Mod Podge
Exacto knife
Sticky tape
Various stamps (optional)
Archival ink (optional)
Coordinating paint (optional)

Step 1:

Open the frame and remove the mat.  Set the frame and glass aside.


Step 2:

Cut coordinating patterned papers into various sized pieces. The fabulous June Little Red Scrapbook kit worked great for this project!  I cut 1 inch, 2 inch, and 3 inch strips but you can use larger or smaller sizes depending on the look you desire for your project.




Step 3:

Paint one small section of the mat at a time with Decoupage or Mod Podge and layer the patterned paper on it.  Try not to overlap your papers or it will make your mat lumpy.  Continue this process until the entire mat is covered.  You will have uneven edges but those will be trimmed later with an Exacto knife.




Step 4:

Flip the mat over and trim the excess patterned paper down to 1/2 inch. You will need to make diagonal cuts inward from each corner as shown in the photo.  This will make it easier to fold the paper to adhere it to the back of the mat with sticky tape.





Step 5:

Flip the mat back over and viola, it is complete unless you want to dress it up a little bit.  I usually dry brush my mat with a coordinating acrylic paint or stain.  I also like to add rub-ons and stamp randomly on it using archival ink (archival ink won't smear when you cover it with Decoupage).


The final step for me is to paint a coat of Decoupage over the entire mat to seal it and make the colors pop.  Once it's dry you can add a photo and put it all back together.  Here is a photo of my finished frame.  I added the flower embellishments...also from the June LRS kit!



That's it for this addition of Friday Fun!  I hope you get crafty this weekend!

Tammy

1 comment:

Carla said...

What an awesome idea!! Thanks for the wonderful tutorial Tammy!!