Upcycling Magic: Transform Cardboard into Stunning Picture Frames

Have you ever stared at that beautiful piece of art, knowing it deserves better than being tucked away in a drawer, only to wince at the price tags on gorgeous store-bought frames? 

Or maybe you've found yourself hoarding those sturdy delivery boxes, feeling guilty about tossing them in the recycling bin? Well, get ready to transform your "trash" into treasure!

We'll walk you through the simple process of turning cardboard into stunning picture frames that perfectly complement your space.

Once you get the hang of the process, let your creativity run wild – experiment with textures, patterns, and even mixed materials for truly one-of-a-kind pieces.

What You'll Need

Materials:

• Cardboard
• Leftover Paint (acrylic, emulsion etc.)
• Decorative Fabric or Paper
• Strong adhesive (PVA glue, hot glue gun, or Mod Podge)
• Masking Tape

Tools:

• Pencil and eraser
• Scissors
• Craft Knife
• Paintbrush
• Tape measure/ruler
• Tracing/Greaseproof Paper
• Set square
• Cutting board
  

How to Create Your Own Picture Frames

1. Measure your picture, photo or project. Consider:

• How much empty space you want around the picture within the frame
• How wide you want the frame to be
• The shape of the frame - for unusual shapes, you can trace around the design and create a template
  

2. With these measurements, carefully cut out the frames you need using a craft knife, cutting board and a metal ruler to ensure you get straight edges:

• The front frame – cut the hole the size that you decided, including the white space. Then, draw and cut the width of the frame around this
• The back board – the same as the outer edge of the front frame
• The frame inserts – this will vary depending on your picture. Use our measurement guide above to help you. If your picture is a thicker paper/card, use cardboard or extra layers of paper for the insert
  

3. Glue the insert to the back of the front frame. This will enable your picture to sit centrally in the frame.

4. Cut your fabric or paper pieces to size, for measurements, see image below. You will need one piece of fabric for each of these:

• Front frame
• Back frame
• Back board – in our example we used a thin strip of fabric which we found made it difficult to switch out the pictures. To prevent this, we think it would be better to cover the whole back board. For this, the measurements would be the width of the board by the length of the board with 2cm added for fold over at one of the short end
  

5. Glue the back board fabric to the back frame and overlap it on one of the  short edges, ensuring it is well stuck down.

6. Lay the front frame in the middle of the front fabric and glue the fabric over one of the short ends and around the inner frame, ensuring all loose ends are stuck down.

7. Glue the frame to the back board with the two finished short edges matching up. Only stick down the three other edges, leaving the opening for inserting your picture.

8. Working systematically, pull the fabric taut from the front around the edges and stick them down the back board. Keep checking the front as you do this to ensure the fabric remains flat.

9. Take the back fabric and iron over the edges for a crisp line (we ironed over by 1cm). Glue this fabric onto the back to cover all the messy edges.

10. And voilà, a beautiful frame!

Customisation Options

Painted Frames

1. Complete the process above, and insert a piece of scrap paper into the frame.

2. Then, paint the fabric your chosen colour, letting it dry in between coats. You will probably need two or three depending on your chosen paint and colour.

3. Once dry you can use the frame as desired.

Framing Embroidery

1. Create a template for the frame opening.

• Trace around your design, then add a bit of extra space for the border

2. Cut the cardboard for the frame using the template and then draw the desired shape and size frame around the opening. (We only used one piece of cardboard for these frames in case we want to reframe the embroidery in the future!)

3. Cover the cardboard in your chosen fabric or paper. We've found that if you want to paint it, then covering with fabric first works best.

4. Paint the frame with your chosen colour and leave to dry. This may need multiple coats depending on the colour, depth and type of paint you use. With the leftover tester pots we applied two coats.

5. Once dry, you can attach the design into your frame with a glue gun or strong tape.

6. If desired, you can create a back for the frame.

The embroidery patterns we have used here are from Cutesy Crafts:
Heart Flower Embroidery Design | Bloom Hand Embroidery Pattern

Box Frames for Artificial Flowers

1. Measure your picture, photo or flowers. Consider:

• How much empty space you want around the picture within the frame
• How wide you want the frame to be
• How deep you want the frame to be

2. With these measurements, cut out the frames you need using a craft knife, cutting board and a metal ruler to ensure you get straight edges:

• The front frame – cut the hole the size that you decided, including the white space. Then, draw and cut the width of the frame around this
• The back board – 1cm smaller along each edge
• The frame inserts – see measurements on above image. We used six layers of cardboard
  

3. Glue the six insert layers together.

4. Cover the back board with your chosen fabric or paper

• Glue the corners in so the fabric is folded diagonally
• Then work along the edges by gluing the edge in the middle and stretching the edge as you fix it to the back board.

5. Cut a strip of fabric with measurements:
(length of the inner frame + 2cm) x (depth of the inner frame + 4cm)

6. Cover the inner edge of the frame:

• Glue the fabric strip around the inner frame
• Once fixed, snip the strip of fabric at the four corners and glue the excess onto the front and back of the frame. Make sure you pull it tight before you fix it down.

7. (Optional) Secure the edges of the fabric down with masking tape to keep it tidy.

8. Glue the back piece to the inner box.

9. Cut the fabric to fit the front frame making sure it can cover the sides and fix to the back board. (It will need to be a border of at least 10cm but will depend on how deep you've made your box.)

10. Then, glue the fabric to the front of the frame and smooth it out.

11. Cut the inside of the frame in a cross shape to the corners and glue the excess round the back. Keep the fabric stretched tight.

12. Tidy up the edges on the back using glue or masking tape.

13. Glue the front frame to the main box making sure you keep the edges all lined up.

14. Glue the fabric to the long edges of the box frame and fix around the back.

15. Cut the corners and glue each part down.

• Make a cut about 1.5cm from parallel to the bottom edge of the frame, then another at a right angle, in line with the side edge
• Fold that tab over and glue
• Make another cut about 1.5cm from parallel to the bottom edge of the frame, then another at a right angle, in line with the front edge
• Fold that tab over and glue

16. Fold all the excess fabric over to create a clean line on the side, then glue the fabric over the short edges and then over to the back. 
*Keep checking the front to make sure you pull each part evenly.

17. Cut the straws to the required size.

18. Cover the straws with fabric, string, ribbon or paint them to work with the colours you've chosen.

• Glue at one end leaving a bit of excess material for neating off
• Wrap the material around the straw, gluing it down after each turn
• Tidy the ends off and trim

19. Glue the straws into position on the frame.

20. Cut the back fabric (2cm larger all round than the back frame) then iron over the edges by 2cm for a crisp line. Glue this fabric onto the back to cover all the messy edges.

21. Arrange your artificial flowers in the straws, mix them up and switch them out to reflect the seasons.

If you have any issues with your project, drop us an email at hello@joyontap.store and we'll get back to you in a couple of days and do our best to solve the problem :)

Share Your Creations

Show off your upcycled frames on Pinterest and Instagram with the hashtag #icreatedjoy and tag @joyontap_store. We can't wait to see the frames you create!