Glass Picture Framing Ideas

Think outside the box to frame pictures in unusual glass.

Glass picture frames made from recycled materials, or imaginatively repurposed glass, make very personal displays and unusual gifts. Bits of glass reclaimed from the sea, renovation castoffs and glass you saved from the trash will showcase and protect photographs, small drawings, artwork or even mementos. Photographs that relate to the original purpose of their new frames, like a beach scene in a sea glass frame, look especially at home in them.

Recycled Glass Jar Frames

Recycle glass jars into photo frames. A collection of empty jars will each hold a photograph, slipped inside the jars and curved against the glass. Soak the labels off the jars, clean and dry thoroughly. Match the photos to the jar sizes—for smaller jars you may need to trim the pictures so they will fit. Remember that the photos will bend around the shape of the jar so the entire picture will not be visible. Insert the photographs into the jars upside down, adjusting them to lay directly against the glass. Use a dot of glue to fasten them if they won't stay in place. Now turn the jars upside down. You don't need the lids. Arrange the collection on a ledge or a table where it isn’t likely to be jostled. Brighten up a kitchen shelf with "jarred" photos of the kids making Christmas cookies.

Sea Glass Frame

The photos of that beach vacation look most at home in a sea glass picture frame. Sea glass is sand-abraded, worn bits of glass tossed up on a beach by the tide. It may have come from broken glass fishing globes, old bottles or a shipwreck—but whatever its unknowable origins, the glass is smooth and pretty and will remind you of sand and surf. You can purchase sea glass at craft stores or from tourist shops near beaches—or collect your own. Use a wide wooden frame as the base. Paint the frame in a pale beach color: sand, distressed shell white, blue sky, clear watery turquoise. Arrange the pieces of glass around the frame until you are satisfied with the design. Add some small shells, sand dollars or plaster starfish for accents. Super glue everything in place and let the frame dry flat.

Old Window Picture Frame

Salvage a multipaned glass window from the garage or a flea market to frame the whole family. If the wood frame around the glass has layers of cracked paint, the frame is already distressed for you. Clean the glass. Decide whether the window will hang horizontally or vertically in its new space. Screw two sturdy eye hooks into the top of the frame to hold a length of chain. Center a photograph in each glass “frame” of the window and put a dot of glue in each of the four corners of the photo to fasten it directly to the glass. When the glue is dry, hang the photo frame on the wall by slipping the chain over a nail or hook. This is an especially effective display when all the photographs are in black and white or when the subjects are in closeup.

References

• Odyssey Sea Glass: Sea Glass Mirror or Photo Frame
• Photo Jojo: Glass Jar Frames
• Junk Market Style: Old Window Picture Frame