[completed] decoupage picture frames

black and white

On Monday, I had an awesome craft day with my new friend. We stopped at Wal-Mart to gather supplies, and she found these awesome sets of hanging wood frames. The frames were simple undecorated wood, and my friend suggested that we decoupage the frames with scrapbook paper. I picked up a pack of black, white and grey printed papers, and we were off!

This is the result! It took way longer than I had expected to cut out and mod podge the pieces of paper on the frames, but I love the result. (Hers turned out even cuter than mine, but sadly I didn't take any pictures!) We watched Mulan while we crafted. It was a great time!

I already had a set of six square black and white photos just sitting on a shelf. I recently got rid of the cheapo Target frames the pictures had been in, and was at a loss for what to do with them. This project was perfect for them! I chose three of the six photos - one each of my mother and my sisters. I plan to get another set of the frames and do the whole process again (but different, of course) for the other three photos.

look how pretty my family members are!

P.S. The mirrored bug? $0.25 at Michael's. Isn't it cute?

Felt Frame How-to

Today I'm going to show you (with pictures!) how to make a felt frame for a cross-stitch piece. It's super fast and easy, and a good way to display your cross-stitch pieces that don't fit nicely in frames.

Materials:

• Cross-stitch piece all pressed and ready to go
• 2x pieces of felt (one for the front and one for the back of the frame)
• Embroidery floss
• Scissors
• Needle
• Embroidery hoops (or other traceable object) - I used 6" and 4" hoops
• Pen
• Ribbon for hanging (cut to desirable length)
• Pins (optional)
• Ruler (optional)

Step one:

• Trace the 6" hoop (using the inner ring so you don't run into the clasp) on the piece of felt you want for the top of the frame (I used pink felt). Cut out carefully.
  

Step two:

• Place the 4" hoop inside the circle you just cut and measure if you want it to be placed perfectly. I eyeballed it and then measured to confirm. Trace the circle.
  

Step three:

• Fold the 6" circle in half and make a cut inside the 4" circle you just traced. Then cut out the 4" circle carefully. Discard.
  
  
  

Step four:

• Place the pink 6" circle on the white felt (or whatever color you chose for the backing) and cut out a matching back piece.
  
  
  

Step five:

• Place pink 6" circle on the cross-stitch piece and cut the cross-stitch to fit.
  
  
  

Step six:

• Pin all three layers together. You're now ready to start stitching!

Step seven:

• Use a whip-stitch or blanket-stitch (as I did) to attach the three layers together. Make sure to tuck your ribbon inside the three layers and securely stitch in place.

Step eight:

• Admire!
  

Additional options:

• You can also stitch around the 4" cut-out, as I did.
  

• You can decorate the frame with felt cut-outs (I used green hearts).