My Journal colleague Sara Budisantoso was cleaning out her house last week and getting rid of a stash of plain white IKEA picture frames. When she brought them to the office and offered them to anyone who wanted them, I snatched up a few because I have that “You never know when I might need them” mentality. The minimalist white frames turned out to be a perfect canvas for creativity, as I covered them with things I had around the house, such as duct tape, artificial turf and fabric. Now they’re picture perfect.
Duct Tape Frame
One of my favorite art tools is duct tape. It comes in fun colors and patterns, and because it’s already sticky, you don’t need any glue to apply it. I chose one color of tape for the front of the frame and another for the sides. Just tear off a piece of tape to cover each side, and trim off any excess. Duct tape is easy to use because it’s so forgiving. If you don’t like how any part looks, you can either peel it off or cover it with another piece of tape.
Artificial Turf Frame
For less than $20, I bought a big sheet of artificial turf at Home Depot for crafting purposes, and let me tell you, I will glue that stuff on anything. For this project, I cut individual sections for each side and hot glued them to the frame. I finished it off by gluing an artificial flower to the corner.
Repurposed Shirt Frame
I cut up old shirts for crafting and decorating projects and never throw away the scraps. Again, my pack rat mentality at work. So I cut out four pieces of an old flannel shirt — one for each side — and hot glued them to the frame. Where the seams met in the corners, I hot glued a button to hide any uneven edges.
Jonathan Fong is the author of “Flowers That Wow” and “Parties That Wow,” and host of “Style With a Smile” on YouTube. You can see more of his do-it-yourself projects at jonathanfongstyle.com.
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