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crafts crafts + DIY photo crafts
September 25, 2013

how to build a DIY wood frame for photos and printables

I love text art. Subway art, chalkboard art, calligraphy, awesome quotes in cool fonts, etc. There are so many free printables available now that it would be easy to find one that’s perfect for every single room is your house. What’s a little more difficult is finding cool frames that don’t cost much, especially for a large print. I figured it couldn’t be too hard to make my own using a $5 pine board from Home Depot. Turns out it’s not! Keep reading for instructions on how to make a simple wood frame.

How to make a wood frame. Easy tutorial for a DIY wood frame.

 

(If you’d like to find even more tutorials for building photo frames, check out 20 best DIY frame tutorials.)

I used a 4 inch wide pine board from Home Depot (which is actually about 3.5 inches wide). I got the 8 ft length for a frame for a 16×20 print. I used a miter saw set at 45 degrees to miter the corners. When cutting your pieces, remember that the short side (inside) of each board should be about an inch shorter than the height or width of your print. For a 16×20 print, I had pieces that looked like this:

The exact dimensions are not that important; however, it IS important that both long pieces are exactly the same lenght, and both shorter pieces are exactly the same length. This will ensure that your mitered corners line up perfectly. I accomplished this by sawing through both pieces at once on the miter saw.

If you don’t have a miter saw, don’t worry. You can just make a frame without mitered corners. If you do that, you’ll want to cut your pieces like this:

To put your frame together, you’ll need wood glue and some sort of joiner. I’ve seen v-nails recommended, but I couldn’t find them at Home Depot. You could also use a metal brace that you screw into the pieces you’re attaching together. I was looking for something inexpensive and convenient, so I found these wood joiners for a buck fifty:

I used a lot of wood glue, pushed my pieces as close together as possible, and asked one of my boys to hammer in a couple of joiners across the seam.

I put heavy books on it to make sure the corners all laid flat and left it to dry for a couple of hours. Here’s what it looked like finished:

I stained it, then hated how it looked, so I sanded most of the stain off and just painted it instead. I picked a robin’s egg blue because I knew that would like nice against a chalkboard printable. I used 50 cent acrylic craft paint from Walmart and mixed in a few drops of water to thin it out a bit so the wood grain would show through:

I also sanded it slightly to distress. I really want to make another one and pick a better stain, though, because I think that could be gorgeous.

I found that the easiest way to attach a print or photo was to tape it to a piece of stiff foam board (found at the dollar store) that I trimmed to slightly smaller than frame size:

Then I just flipped the foam board over, center the print in the frame, and stapled the foam board right to the frame. When I want to change the print, it’s easy to pop the staple out, take the print off the foam board, and tape a new one in, with no damage to the print or frame. If you want to hang the frame, simply hammer in a sawtooth hanger (or two) along the top.

Learn how to build a large mitered photo frame for under 10 dollars in about half an hour. DIY wood photo frame tutorial.

 

 

 

Want more building tutorials? Try these posts:

Modern Wood + Magnet Frame

Spring Ladder Flower Pot Planter

DIY Garage Storage Cabinets

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Home » crafts » crafts + DIY » how to build a DIY wood frame for photos and printables


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Comments

  1. Shirley says

    September 26, 2013 at 12:09 am

    I love this! You made it look so easy. I hate looking for frames and yours is beautiful.

    Reply
    • Mike says

      August 28, 2018 at 4:46 am

      These DIY wood frames are really awesome. The images helps to make our own wood frames for photos.

      Thanks for sharing this!

      Reply
    • Owen Rush says

      January 29, 2019 at 10:10 pm

      I really like your cost minimizing DIY frame ideas. It would be great if give some more idea where we can use the bamboo.
      Thanks

      Reply
    • jonathan says

      August 25, 2020 at 9:13 am

      It also requires some tools, I have another way that is easy to do, that is by using cardboard, there are many video tutorials on youtube for this.

      Reply
  2. Shirley says

    September 26, 2013 at 12:09 am

    I love this! You made it look so easy. I hate looking for frames and yours is beautiful.

    Reply
  3. Misty @ Meet the Cottons says

    September 26, 2013 at 12:09 am

    This would be so much easier than trying to find a frame! Love that color! Any chance you’ll share the brand and color name?

    Reply
    • Aliatra says

      March 31, 2016 at 3:06 pm

      “I used 50 cent acrylic craft paint from Walmart and mixed in a few drops of water to thin it out a bit so the wood grain would show through”

      Reply
      • Lacie says

        April 27, 2018 at 4:26 pm

        Do you have the measurements to make an 11×14 frame? Without a miter saw? ?? Thanks so much!

        Reply
  4. vicky tomline says

    September 27, 2013 at 12:09 am

    You have fans in the UK here at ironmongeryOnline where we also blog about upcycling etc – these look great and would make a great gift too. Keep up the great posts

    Reply
  5. Brooke says

    September 27, 2013 at 12:09 am

    I’m totally in need of this tutorial. I’m constantly pinning or making printables, and I need ways to display them. Thanks so much for sharing! I love all the printables you’ve created!!! Have a great weekend.

    Reply
  6. Rachel says

    January 5, 2014 at 6:49 pm

    Love this post, but a little confused how you got the measurements for the frame without mitered corners. Help please?

    Reply
    • autumn says

      January 5, 2014 at 7:49 pm

      For a 16×20 print, you want the inside opening of the frame to be 15×19. So the side frame pieces are easy: 19 inches long each. The top and bottom pieces need to be long enough to go across the width of both side pieces (3.5+3.5) and the 15 inch opening, so that’s 3.5 + 3.5 + 15 = 22. I hope that makes sense!

      Reply
  7. Jose says

    March 18, 2014 at 12:41 pm

    I need help, do you know where I can find wood already ready to make frames. I need wood about 1/2 to maybe 1 inch wide with a back where the glass can be inserted so glass will not come out, I need to wood to cut in different sizes to make several frames. The reason I need this wood is to make glass boxes to put dolls, art figures inside.

    Reply
    • Steven says

      August 21, 2017 at 4:22 am

      Hey Jose, we found ours from Amazon, Did a quick search for wooden ones on there and it brought up some nice designs with great reviews. Hope that helps!

      Reply
      • Janice says

        April 5, 2020 at 3:58 am

        What wood you suggest to use for this?

        Reply
  8. Mary says

    May 14, 2014 at 8:56 am

    Instead of stapling the foam board to the back you could use Velcro dots for easy changing! I’ve been wanting to make some frames to use interchangeably with calendar prints I’ve saved. Your plan is perfect for my project!
    Mat boards could also be velcroed in and out!

    Reply
    • autumn says

      May 15, 2014 at 3:31 pm

      Mary, you’re a genius!

      Reply
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    July 24, 2014 at 9:58 pm

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    DSE-084, DSE-097, DSE-201, Janty Mini Fogger,
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    Reply
  10. Desmond says

    August 6, 2014 at 1:32 pm

    This website was… how do you say it? Relevant!!
    Finally I’ve found something that helped me.
    Thanks a lot!

    Reply
  11. TOM says

    January 17, 2015 at 9:25 am

    great ideas

    Reply
  12. Doris Cooper says

    February 2, 2015 at 8:13 pm

    IT ALL LOOKS SO FUN AND DO-ABLE! THANKS
    SORRY, NO WEBSITE

    Reply
  13. Tina says

    February 22, 2015 at 11:39 am

    This is a great idea! I need frames for these gorgeous pictures I have for my bathroom and I don’t want to spend a crazy ton of money. Your idea will allow me to make unique, original frames and it’ll be extremely cost effective. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
    • autumn says

      February 25, 2015 at 10:45 am

      Yep, I love how cheap this ends up being, especially if you’re making multiple frames. Good luck – I hope they turn out great!

      Reply
      • Lacie says

        April 27, 2018 at 4:30 pm

        Would you happen to have the measurements for an 11×14? I don’t have a miter saw. THANKS IN ADVANCE ♥️

        Reply
  14. Christina says

    June 26, 2015 at 1:01 am

    That’s great. I usually picture frame decord in my home. I use miter saw that cut wood. I have problem with cutting board 90 degree. Do you have tip for me?

    Reply
  15. Leann says

    September 13, 2015 at 11:11 pm

    I would like to know how you get “itsalwaysautumn.com” at the bottom of the frame. Is it painted on?

    Reply
  16. Lori says

    September 21, 2015 at 1:38 am

    Thanks for your sharing. I am going to buy miter saw cut metal and wood. I wonder two brand Hitachi with Dewalt from this site. You have many experience, give me your advice

    Reply
  17. Shannon A. Lujan says

    January 7, 2016 at 7:47 pm

    Looks great. I like this wooden project very much. It is really great idea to make our home furnished with woods. I love furniture. I made some picture frames for my family and friends last year. But I didn’t use the miter saw, I often use the wood router for my DIY projects.

    Reply
  18. Richard Leverette says

    April 19, 2016 at 10:57 am

    I found this article to be very informative and helpful. Very well written and executed 🙂 Thank You!

    Reply
  19. Pepin says

    April 26, 2016 at 11:14 am

    Well written article. Thanks for sharing this good post with us. Keep it up.

    Reply
  20. Tonny says

    May 23, 2016 at 9:24 pm

    Thans for sharing your tip Autumn, It looks simple and easy to do. I will try one for my parents.

    Reply
  21. simon mason says

    June 4, 2016 at 2:58 am

    could you give me a quote for 1 picture light wood(real wood)frame with glass/mount 3″, size 120cmx60cm and also price for 10 of the same, also include delivery if .
    there is a charge.
    thankyou
    Simon Mason

    Reply
  22. Nancy Taylor says

    July 12, 2016 at 12:28 pm

    These frames are so beautiful! I am redecorating my home right now and I want to try making these for the remodel! I love having family photos up around the house. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  23. Debbie hayes says

    August 10, 2016 at 3:34 pm

    What shall we do tomorrow? My 10 year old’s reply – woodwork! I am doing a surprise photo booth. Result! We’ll have a go at both joints – thanks for the inspiration from a grateful mum x

    Reply
  24. James says

    September 8, 2016 at 12:47 pm

    It looks great! I had a few more tools at my disposal, so I ended up shaping the sides with a router. The clips are a creative solution to hold it together though. I simply glued the miter joints together and held it with a cheap band clamp while it dried (http://did-it-myself.com/how-to-make-a-picture-frame/)

    Reply
  25. Micheal says

    August 18, 2017 at 5:55 am

    thanks for sharing the tutorials. I think it is simple yet practical that we can make it together with our kids in this weekend. 🙂

    Reply
  26. cadenaspe341 says

    April 19, 2018 at 8:38 am

    It’s good to see the woodprix has new instructions to save my money and energy to build it.

    Reply
  27. Sajid Bashir says

    May 14, 2019 at 5:20 am

    Most of the people like me love to use frames but we are unfortunately not able to make them for ourselves …

    Apart from the fact that Autumn has explained it so well here.

    But the best idea in this case would be to buy DIY ones from Amazon or EBAY…They are cheap and economical and you would love them

    Reply
  28. Mark B. Morse says

    June 7, 2019 at 4:45 am

    I really impressed with these wood photo frames. I have a lot of wool pallet but I always buy a frame from the shops.
    Do I need to cut my wood sizes exactly in order to make a beautiful frame? I found it is not easy with the type of wood I have.

    Reply
  29. [email protected] says

    July 3, 2019 at 9:26 pm

    Wow.Wow .. ^^. Great frame was created to save the photos associated with memories .. I like wooden frames rather than mechanics. it is very rustic and simple . vote 5* !

    Reply
  30. Sam Maxi says

    September 12, 2019 at 5:49 am

    I’m a huge fan of DIY working. I read out your article and got some good idea about building a DIY wood frame and it helps me to build a wood photo frame by DIY work.

    Thanks for an amazing idea.

    Reply
  31. Noel says

    February 27, 2020 at 12:59 am

    I’m a big fan of getting back to real photos, especially black and white prints and with so many print shops around now these look great in a homemade frame like these. Good job!

    Reply
  32. Peter says

    March 5, 2020 at 11:14 pm

    Wood frame are popular day by day and it looks really so nice. I make it through this blog and it awesome. Thanks for your nice post.

    Reply
  33. Miriam says

    March 27, 2020 at 4:17 am

    The frames look great and the guide is comprehensive and easy to follow. I am definitely making these! Thanks for your time and effort!

    Reply
  34. Jon Stephenson says

    April 18, 2020 at 1:42 am

    A helpful resource to choose the best wood frame for my work. As a wood worker, this explanation reduces my sorrow and ease my task. please share more in the future.

    Reply
  35. Jon Stephens says

    May 19, 2020 at 3:37 pm

    Hello ,
    Excellent guide and review of wood frame for photos.
    I need to change my existing one. So, I was looking for an expert opinion. Thanks for sharing this helpful guide with us.

    Reply
  36. Liza says

    August 24, 2020 at 7:10 pm

    Love this amazing wood design. This is really a very creative way to make photo frame. Thank you for sharing this unique idea.

    Reply
  37. ToolAim says

    September 11, 2020 at 1:48 am

    Great articles. But how does your canvas stay inside the frame and not fall through?

    Reply
  38. Rohit says

    September 12, 2020 at 5:02 am

    Thank you autumn, I finally made a photo frame by myself. And that because of you.

    Reply
  39. Mike Arthur says

    October 12, 2020 at 5:30 am

    Incredibly well explained and demonstrated, thank you.

    Reply

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I'm Autumn, a mom of five who loves ice cream, Masterpiece Theatre, and clothes that hide the fact that I eat so much ice cream. When I was 18 I got a job at a craft store and told everyone (regularly) how much I hated crafts. Well, things change! Read More…

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