Easy DIY Rustic Frame

In this all-things-digital time we live in, I cherish actual photos.

Filling our home with pictures displayed on our bookshelves, walls and in photo books, is a powerful way to tell our story and relive our memories.

 With that in mind,  I decided to make a couple of rustic frames to hold some of those special memories for  Mike’s Father’s Day present…

These are poster prints (16×20) from Snapfish

I gave them to him a little early and helped me hang them in the breakfast room!

The rustic frames are a great way to add to the rustic elements already in this space…and you know me, I’m drawn to all-things rustic!

Is there anything more meaningful than a visual reminder of how much a Daddy/PopPop is loved by his Littles?

I wanted to do these without any help from Mike since they are for him after all!!! The good news is that because I did them, they’re super easy! (You could use this process to make shadow boxes too!)

(Printable Instructions at the end of the post :))

Here’s What You Do

Cut plywood to size (using a table saw or a circular say) I cut the wood an inch (all around) larger than my poster…

Cut your 1 x 1″ strips (or moldings) to the right length—> I put the long sides on first then tucked the 2 small sides into the space…

Sand over all edges…I like my edges to be smooth and a little bit rounded—that makes the piece look more rustic, like the wood has been around a while.

Now- stain everything…except where you’ll put your print. I stained about an 1 inch on every side of the plywood & the back of the plywood and all sides of the 1 x 1’s…

(I only used the gray stain- at first I thought I might have to go over it with the white, but the Classic Gray is a beautifully soft gray-exactly what I wanted.)

Add decoupage medium to the front of your plywood-don’t add tons because it gets messy…just enough to show, like the photo below…

Place photo where you want it and use a brayer to smooth photo onto the plywood-Ummm, since I don’t have a large brayer, I used an extra piece of wood to gently smooth my photo. (just be careful if you use something with a sharp edge!)

Try out all of your edges before you start attaching them just to be sure there is no plywood showing that isn’t stained!

Now add the sides by positioning one of your long pieces face down on your work surface.

 Attach both long sides …

 Then add your smaller sides…

 I think with bigger moldings on the side this would be a pretty shadow box…maybe you could add several smaller photos…

It’s so simple you can do this in an hour…just upload your photos of dad to Snapfish

And speaking of Snapfish, did you know they have a brand-new, made-over website?! 

They have new, Easy-to-use tools to help you express your amazingly creative self in all your photo projects!

They are—>Tablet and smartphone friendly so you can create on any device, at home or on the go!

And best of all…Every one of your photos are at your fingertips. Add and save photos to your Snapfish account from almost anywhere, including Instagram!

Another perk! Snappish has created a new consumer program called Snapfish Superfans! They're excited to partner with you to spread your creative spirit.  Log in to start saving, sharing, and creating----> Join Snapfish Superfans!

Snapfish has been my go-to online photo source for years, I create yearly photo books, instead of leaving all my pictures on my computer! It's easy to upload every month and then little by little throughout the year work on my book...by January, I can snuggle in and look back at all of our moments from the previous year. 

~Here’s to making and preserving memories my friends~ 

This post was created in partnership with Snapfish. But all  memory preserving opinions are my very own.

Here’s What You Need

* Poster print (16 x 20) from Snapfish

*1/8 ” thick Plywood for backing

* 1 x 1 wood moldings

(I used planks of wood 1″ thick and cut them into 1″ strips- BUT that’s the hard way! I did this simply because I had planks that were 1″ thick)

* Stain (I used Classic Gray from Minwax)

* Small (about 5/8″ long) wood screws

*Decoupage medium (I used DecoPage from DecoArt)

* Wire and eye screws for hanging

Here’s What You Do

Cut plywood to size (using a table saw or a circular say) I cut the wood an inch (all around) larger than my poster…
Cut your 1 x 1″ strips (or moldings) to the right length—> I put the long sides on first then tucked the 2 small sides into the space…
Sand over all edges…I like my edges to be smooth and a little bit rounded—that makes the piece look more rustic, like the wood has been around a while.
Now- stain everything…except where you’ll put your print. I stained about an 1 inch on every side of the plywood & the back of the plywood and all sides of the 1 x 1’s…
Add decoupage medium to the front of your plywood-don’t add tons because it gets messy…just enough to show…
Place photo where you want it and use a brayer to smooth photo onto the plywood-Ummm, since I don’t have a large brayer, I used an extra piece of wood to gently smooth my photo. (just be careful if you use something with a sharp edge!)
Try out all of your edges before you start attaching them just to be sure there is no plywood showing that isn’t stained!
Now add the sides by positioning one of your long pieces face down on your work surface.
Attach both long sides …
Then add your smaller sides…
I think with bigger moldings on the side this would be a pretty shadow box…maybe you could add several smaller photos…
Enjoy!

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