Custom Paper Frame

I’ve recently starting dabbling in watercolors, and have made a bunch of small, cute little paintings.

They aren’t really worth framing. But stacking them on the kitchen table wasn’t really allowing me to enjoy them either.

So I’ve done what any good paper crafter would do – make my own!

This really is super easy – first, I measured my masterpiece. I created this one based on a tutorial, but I didn’t like how the top part looked so I tore it off, which the left me with the super odd size of 5 inches wide by 2.625 inches tall.

In my drawing program of choice, I created a rectangle a little larger than that – I added .125 extra all around. This is going to be the window in the frame that lets the artwork show through. The extra space is to allow a background sheet to show through, adding a little pop of color to complement the artwork.

For the frame itself, I drew another rectangle larger than the window. The actual size is personal preference – do you want a lot of frame or a little? The window cutout gets centered left to right in this new rectangle.  I don’t center mine top to bottom – I push it up a bit to the top to leave room at the bottom for the title and signature.

I then double the height of the rectangle, and add a line at the center for a score. This is going to allow the card to fold over in half, which creates a sturdier frame. In Silhouette Studio, I change that line for the score into a dotted line so that it doesn’t cut completely.

I also pasted in an easel stand, which makes all the frame and stand pieces be the same color. Once the file was cut, I weeded it and cut a piece of colorful scrap paper a little larger than the window.

Double stick tape is all I needed to assemble this frame. Fold the card in half, and then stick the colored sheet to the inside back panel to that it is visible in the window. Add double stick tape to the inside of the frame, and carefully stick that to the back. Finally I double stick taped my artwork to the colored panel.

Now I can display my new hobby on the book case. This same sort of frame would also be great for photos – think how cute a row of Instagram shots would look all custom framed!

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