DIY Striped Picture Frame

I have had the thought and idea of a gallery wall for awhile.  Once I had the idea in my head I started to look for picture frames that I thought would work in that space, with the style and colors I wanted.

I never found the perfect frames.

Then I saw plain wood frames ready to be painted or stained or whatever one desires at JoAnns.  Using a 40% off coupon on my phone from Hobby Lobby (b/c they take competitors) and a 50% off JoAnns coupon I was able to get 2 thick simple and contemporary looking frames for a 5x7 picture for less than $10 all together including tax.  Awesome!  I love cheap affordable!

My gallery wall is going to be a mix of framed and canvas pictures.  Yet again, b/c I have to live within a budget I had to do the canvas pictures myself.  When I was painting the edges of my canvas is when I painted the picture frames a base color white.  Here's the link for the canvas picture DIY and the pictures for painting the frames.

For the purpose of my pictures and the location on the gallery wall I wanted one frame to be a simple solid white and the other striped to add a little fun and pizzazz.

Completing a striped picture frame was easier than I thought, and I love the impact it has on the wall.

As with every DIY I did learn a few things along the way; I might as well share them with you so you can do it yourself a little easier and with fewer mistakes.  

What You Will Need

• Wood picture frame you can paint
• 2 colors of paint (I went with spray paint with primer already included)
• Painters or Frog tape of various widths
• Ruler
• Scissors

As discussed above.  You first must paint your base color.  I went with white.  I used spray paints which allowed for fast easy coverage, but it does limit you a bit.  I did end up having to paint two coats on the frames, but that is b/c I like to be thorough.  

After the base color has dried completely you can tape your lines down.  

I had to use painter's tape and then masking tape b/c those were the widths I had.  If I were to do this again, and for you I would buy frog tape (the seal on the tape is a bit better) of 2 different widths, or at least one painter's tape and one frog tape.  Masking tape should be your last resort.  

I purposely made the distance between tape vary in size.  I found it critical to use the ruler to make sure your lines are straight all the way up and down and that the distance between the edge of frame and edge of the tape was the same at the top and bottom.  Now, I'm a bit OCD (that's the librarian in me coming out) so I was double and triple checking everything.  

I did find it a bit tricky to make sure the lines go down to the picture and continue straight on the other side.  Therefore, as shown in the picture above  I would pull a piece of tape completely across the picture area.  

After measuring and making sure the tape was even and straight I would then use scissors and cut the tape in a spot over the picture section.

After cutting you'll end up with two pieces of tape, but the critical areas (the top and bottom of the picture area) is already secured and lined up.  So easy.  

Carefully, tape the inside part of the frame and just eye it to make sure it looks straight.  Use the edge of the ruler or your nails to secure the tape down in the corner so paint doesn't slip through.

I believe taping is always the most difficult part of the process, but if you do a good job then the rest of the process is a piece of cake.  

Painting took all of 5 minutes, but I did end up doing two coats just to be sure.  A couple hours of dry time in between the coats was enough. 

When I painted stripes in my kids bathroom I learned that you should take the tape off sooner rather than later.  If you wait too long then the paint seems to seep.   Therefore, take your tape off when your paint is partly dry.  

Somehow I forgot that rule.  I think my kiddos waking from their naps was probably the reason why I just picked up the frames and stuck them on saw horses in the garage to dry.  The then forgot about the frames for a couple of days while they dried.  Whooops. 

At this point if you used painters tape or Frog tape and you took the tape off after it was partly dry you would be good to go.  Just let it dry completely, put your picture in, and hang it up.  

However, as you can see from the picture above I had paint seep. Darn cheap tape and leaving the tape on for far too long.  

However, after doing the DIY Growth Chart Ruler  I had learned about the flexibility paint pens have.

I went to Hobby Lobby, used a coupon making it $2 or less, and carefully corrected all of my seeping issues as a result of cheap tape and not taking the tape off at the right time.  

The paint pen worked fabulously, and you can't even tell there were issues to correct.  

So, lesson learned from my DIY Striped Picture Frame: Use good quality tape, remove the tape when partly dry, and if you make mistakes paint pens are awesome.  

PS- I know the color of the frame in the completed pictures looks different than the ones I worked on.  However, I took the pictures in different areas (front room with good lighting vs. the table where I was working) and I only take pictures with my oh so fancy and high quality iPhone.  Forgive me please... I'm not trying to trick you.  They are all the same frames.  

Happy DIYing!  

Try this striped picture frame.  It's a nice change/look, fun to do, cheap and affordable, and easy.  If I can do it, you most definitely can do it.  Plus, you'll have fewer mistakes b/c you'll have learned from mine.  Score!  

  

Next up... I'll reveal the completed gallery wall and how to plan the layout.