Personalized Picture Frame

I was at the local craft store this past week, armed with some birthday money, (which is a very, very bad thing), when I came across this wooden picture frame.  I wanted to make a cute picture frame for my baby and this was an inexpensive way to do it, especially since I had many of the supplies.  The only extra things I needed to buy were the paper pad (because my scrapbook paper is too flowery or pastel-y for a boy), and the buttons. 

Aren’t these buttons cute?

And the boyish looking paper I picked?

Scrapbooking is something I really enjoy doing, but since my husband and I live in a two bedroom condo, our office/craft room has now become the nursery, and my craft room is in my walk-in closet.  And because of that, it’s hard to scrapbook, because once I get everything out on the dining room table, my baby wakes up from his nap and, well, you get the picture.  (Someday I will finish my wedding album, but the wedding was 3 1/2 years ago, so who even knows about that.) 

This is my storage for the scrapbooking paper.  (In a somewhat easy-to-find fashion.)

It holds most of my paper.  I think the box is so cute!  (Okay, I’m not using that word anymore in this post.)  The contraption behind it holds about half of the supplies I own.  It’s great for travel and if I ever plan on taking a class.  I should rephrase that.  It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.

Anyway, I digressed…back to the craft.  You need scrapbooking glue (or any good adhesive) to glue the paper to the frame.  And I would suggest using some type of cutting board, so you don’t make a mess on everything (especially since you’ll need to use an exacto knife).  I am using a quilter’s rotary mat.

Make sure you put the paper right-side up.  That would be an even bigger mess to clean.

Get the paper all nice and pressed onto the wood, smoothing your hand over to catch any air bubbles.  Make sure it really dries before you start to cut it out.

This is the coolest scrapbooking gadget I’ve found.  It’s an exacto knife that fits on your finger!  You can write with it, but instead of writing with it, your cutting. Eww, so fancy!

Now be careful when you cut out for the center of the frame.  You don’t want to cut into the picture.  (Of course I did this the hard way.  I was making this with a friend when she just popped the center pieces out.  Why didn’t I think of that??)

This is another cool scrapbooking gadget that’s been around for eons, but not quite that long in the scrapbooking world.  It’s emery boards for paper.

Why would you do that?  File down the paper?  Because it creates a soft edge to your project.

It might be hard to see in the picture, but the bottom of the cars paper isn’t filed, and the top of the stripes is.  I think it gives it a nice, polished look.

Once you’re done filing, you can distress the outer and inner parts of the frame.  I like to use black, as it seems to make the paper pop more than other colors, but you can use whatever color you like.  (Just dab the paint brush onto the ink pad and give quick strokes, with the end of the brush, to the edge of the frame.)

Then I glued on my buttons.

I added the letter M on the last frame, for Matthew.

And, wallah, it’s done.  (I later traced out the M with a fine-tip sharpie to help it stand out.)

And here it is hanging right outside Matthew’s door.  All I need to do is find some pictures to put inside.

Happy crafting!  I hope this inspires you to make a fun, personalized picture frame for someone you love.  

Smile baby!  Mommy made you you’re first present!  (He looks confused.)