How many times have to gone to the store and seen the adorable personalized frames with a name, family, or holiday features and thought “that is so cute, but jeesh how pricey!” Now you can do it yourself- it will be a lot less expensive AND you can brag that you made it on your own.

For my design I chose snowflakes so that I could frame my daughter’s first Santa experience, but the next one I make will probably have her name and some things that match her room- perhaps her name and butterflies. Another option for my mantle is making a frame that says “Family.” Trading Phrases offers thousands of designs and many that you can personalize with your own name or word- the possibilities are endless, you can match ANY theme you need!

You will need:

• Frame (I purchased mine at Michaels for $2.50 in the unfinished wood section)
• Acrylic Paint in the color you’d like (I had this from other projects, they are .89 cents)
• Paintbrush (I use the cheap kind, I also had left over)
• Decal of your choosing- thousands of possibilities! I chose snowflakes
• Picture for inside your frame!

I am using the left over snowflakes for another project so I get double value out of them. Use the coupon “Winter” to get 10% off your decals today!

Steps:

1. Get all of your supplies together and cover your surface with something- if you are like me you’ll make a mess with the paint, especially when you paint the edges of your frame.
2. Paint your frame the color you’d like. I used only one coat so that I can see some of the wood grain through it- but if you prefer it solid let it dry and apply a second (or third) coat.
3. Wait for it to DRY COMPLETELY. This step is vital… I got a little impatient and applied a decal a little too soon and removing the sticky top took off some of my paint so I had to doctor it a bit. Dry for about an hour…
4. Apply decals- this step is simple, follow the directions by placing them where you would like them, rubbing them down, and then removing the backing.
5. Put your picture in the frame and you are done! Voila!

I can’t wait to do these for each season and occasion- it was so terribly easy and I feel very accomplished. You can do it too! What are you going to make?

Samantha