How to Make Decorative Picture Frame Patterns

It's often difficult to find just the right picture frame for special photographs. It's easy, however, to find plain wooden frames just waiting for your creative touch. Decorating your own frame gives you a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. By taking matters into your own hands literally, you can create exactly what you want in a picture frame. Check out your local dollar store for wooden frames in the sizes you need, and try some of the following suggestions to add your own magical touch.

Things You'll Need

• Simple wooden picture frames
• Acrylic paints
• Stamps and ink pads
• Stickers
• Gemstones
• Sponge
• Paintbrush
• Embellishments
• Hot glue gun

Instructions

1. Give your frame a cloud pattern with a sponge. Remove the glass from the frame and set it aside. Using a brush, paint the wooden edges of the frame sky blue. When the blue paint is dry, pour white acrylic paint into a paint tray. Dip the end of a sponge into the white paint. Apply it to the edges of the frame by dabbing at the wood to create an irregular cloud pattern.

2. Buy a pack of small metal or plastic embellishments in leaf and flower patterns from a craft store. Remove the glass from the picture frame. Stain the wood a natural shade of brown. While the frame is drying, experiment with the leaf embellishments by laying them out on a paper template until you find a design you like. Try grouping a few leaves in one corner, or spreading them out along the edges of the frame. Once the frame is dry, apply the metal embellishments along the border using a hot glue gun. Let them dry before sliding in the photo and replacing the glass. This type of frame is ideal for a hiking, woodland or other outdoor photograph.

3. Use stamps and an ink pad to create a celestial night sky scene on your frame. Remove and set aside the glass cover. Paint the remaining wooden frame a deep blue, using a brush. Allow the frame to dry. Press rubber stamps with sun and moon face designs onto a yellow ink pad. Apply the stamps along the edges of your frame. The yellow on blue creates dramatic contrast.

4. Use stencils to create a garden pattern on the border of your frame. Remove the glass and set it aside. Paint the wooden edges of the frame ivory or pale yellow using a brush. Lay a small ivy stencil over the frame's border. Starting with the top, stencil one side of the frame at a time by using a brush to apply medium green paint inside the stencil opening. Set the frame aside to dry before replacing the glass cover. Look for ink pads with variegated colors for a unique design.

5. Decorate a frame to hold your pet's picture with stickers small enough to fit along the frame's border. After removing the glass from the frame, use a brush to paint the wooden edges a neutral color like beige, or stain them a natural shade. Set the frame aside to dry. For a pet dog, choose stickers such as bones, paw prints, bowls and different types of dogs. For a cat, use stickers of cat toys, paw prints and shapes of cats. Peel the stickers off carefully, applying them in a pattern you like. You can find bird and reptile stickers along with other animal designs.

Tips & Warnings

• Select frames with a plain wooden border to create your own designs. The flatter and smoother the surface, the easier the frame will be to decorate. For a variation, put colored gemstones on a silver frame using a hot glue gun.