Crafts: Cover a Photo Frame with Fabric

Looking for another craft that adds a personal touch to your decor? Cover a photo frame with fabric.

Eileen Fitzmaurice of Woodbridge, New Jersey, is a sucker for yard sales and crafts. “My husband and I just bought a house, so we’re pretty much tapped out,” Eileen says. “That means I have to be pretty frugal when it comes to decorating.” Eileen’s favorite buys are old picture frames: “They’re cheap, and I can almost always make them look great by gluing something to the front.” All it takes, says Eileen, is “a hot glue gun and some imagination.” One of Eileen’s favorite techniques is to decorate a frame with fabric, because she can customize each frame to suit its surroundings or the subject of the picture it contains.

Materials Needed to Decorate a Frame with Fabric

• Plain frames without molding or carving
• Scraps of fabric
• Glue gun

Instructions to Decorate a Frame with Fabric

1. Lay the frame facedown on the wrong side of the fabric and cut the fabric so that it will overlap the interior and exterior edges of frame.
2. Turn the frame faceup and apply glue to the front of the frame.
3. Press the wrong side of the fabric onto the frame and allow the glue to dry.
4. Flip the frame over and glue down the flaps.

Once the frame has dried completely, you can embellish it with other items that can be glued into place. Here are just a few examples of odds and ends that work well as frame adornments: old game pieces (such as Scrabble pieces), seashells, yarn (coiled or in random patterns), buttons, and beads and stones from old costume jewelry. Dig through your junk drawers and jewelry boxes, or look for finds at a flea market.

Find more custom frame ideas.