How to Make Western Style Picture Frames

Western picture frames are perfect for Western-style decorating.

Western picture frames add a western-motif flare to your pictures and home decorations. A western-style frame is a perfect gift for someone you know who loves western-type decorating or is fond of cowboys or rustic-looking items. Western twig frames are one of the easiest picture frames to make. It takes few ingredients and is inexpensive, especially if you have a tree in your yard that you can gather twigs from to make the frame.

Things You'll Need

• Unfinished wood frame
• Foam paint brushes
• Brown acrylic paint
• Paper towels
• Straight, dry twigs
• Pruning shears
• Hot glue gun
• Glue sticks
• Western embellishments
• Cardboard letters

Instructions

1. Paint the frame with the brown paint. Paint the front, back and sides. Dip a paper towel into some water and squeeze out the excess until it is just damp. Wipe the surface of the paint with the towel to absorb some of the paint and give the wood a stained look. Allow the paint to dry for one hour.

2. Lay the frame on a flat surface. Line the twigs along the edges of the frame. Use longer twigs for the longer sides of the frame and smaller twigs for the smaller sides. Once each side of the frame has enough twigs, remove them from the frame, keeping them in separate piles.

3. Draw a diagonal line from the top of each frame corner to the center with a pencil. Lay the twigs back on the frame one at a time. Trim the edges of the twigs so that they meet the line. This allows the twigs to meet evenly and leaves no bare patches on the frame.

4. Glue the twigs in place with a hot glue gun. Press each twig in place for about 30 seconds while the glue dries. This ensures the sticks stay in place.

Tips & Warnings

• Add additional western-style details if desired. You can glue objects such as a wood cut-out of a cowboy hat, a Texas star, a horse or a cow to the frame. You can also glue letters to the frame saying "Happy Trails" or some other western-themed phrase.

References

• Log Home: Step-by-Step: How to Make a Rustic Twig Frame