How to Put Your Own Design on a Photo Mat
Photo mats are the perfect canvas for creating personalized picture frames as gifts or for school projects for occasions like Mother's Day, Father's Day or Christmas. There are many ways to decorate a photo mat. Painting, stenciling, decorating with scrapbook supplies, or gluing buttons, glitter and rhinestones all are ways to put your own design to work on a photo mat.
Things You'll Need
- Newspaper or drop cloth
- Pre-cut and pre-sized photo mats
- Stencils
- Masking tape
- Acrylic paint
- Paint brushes
- Craft glue
- Craft buttons
- Sequins
- Rhinestones
- Scrapbooking stickers
- Felt-tip or craft pens
Instructions
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Stencil Painting a Design on a Photo Mat
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1
Cover your work area with newspaper or a drop cloth to protect the area from paint spills.
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2
Select and open the colors of paint that you would like to use on your mat.
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3
Tape the stencil you have chosen to the front of the photo mat.
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4
Use a paintbrush to paint over the stencils one color at a time, allowing one color to dry before starting a new color. Do not put too much paint on the brush, as it may bleed under the stencil into an area meant for a different color.
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5
Once all the colors have been applied, allow the paint on the stencils to dry completely, then peel the stencils off the photo mat.
Decorating a Photo Mat with Buttons, Rhinestones or Sequins
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6
Place your photo mat in front of you. Experiment with how you would like to glue your jewels onto it. Flat buttons, sequins and rhinestones work better than bulky ones because they allow the mat to still fit into a photo frame.
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Squeeze glue onto the back of your buttons, sequins or rhinestones one at a time and place them onto the photo mat. Decorate starting at the corners of the photo mat. Glue as many embellishments onto the mat as you like.
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8
Allow the glue to dry completely before attempting to put it into a picture frame.
Making a Design with Scrapbooking Stickers on a Photo Mat
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Choose the stickers you would like to use. Gather pens if you want to do any journalling on the photo mat.
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10
Remove the backing from the stickers and place them on the photo mat. Use stickers that are appropriate for the theme you are trying to convey.
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11
Write a date, message or caption on the photo mat with scrapbooking pens.
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References
- Photo Credit picture frame image by Adrian Hillman from Fotolia.com
