Friday, March 23, 2007

Beaded Photo Frame

Here is a fun project I completed yesterday. I have a box of imperfect beads; beads that are broken or misshaped, and some photo frames from IKEA. I needed to do a quick craft project and wanted to use the box of these beads.
Beaded Photo Frame 3
What you will need:
* Photo frames. These frames from IKEA are perfect to work with. They come in packs of 3 and the 4X6 size is only $1.99.
* Beads. Any beads will work, though you may want to use a large bag of assorted, inexpensive beads.
* A glue gun and glue sticks
* Newspaper, or other table protection
* Bent nose pliers
Beaded Photo Frame 1

Beaded Photo Frame 2

Beaded Photo Frame 4

Once you have all your items, you are set. You can use your imagination. I kept the wood natural for my project, and filled the whole frame with beads. Another option, would be to paint the frame first, then add beads as an accent.

Here is the process of my frame:

Be sure to remove the backing and plastic insert.

Beaded Photo Frame 5


Then, using your glue gun, add beads.

Beaded Photo Frame 6

Beaded Photo Frame 7

Beaded Photo Frame 8

Beaded Photo Frame 9

Beaded Photo Frame 10


And the finished project:

Beaded Photo Frame 11


Here it is with a photo:


Beaded Photo Frame 13

Click on the photo to see detail.

Also, here are some frames my daughter made for me:

photoframeflowers

photoframehearts

photoframetiger

You are only limited by your imagination. Have fun!

5 comments:

Histrel said...

What a great idea Nancy. I might do this with my kids over the Easter hols although I think I'll get some cheap frames from a charity (do you call it thrift?) shop as my nearest IKEA is over an hour away which defeats the object of trying to be thrifty :-)

Anonymous said...

I don't think *I* have the patience for this, but my daughter sure does!

Nancy said...

Hi Sharon,
Yep, thrifts stores are what we call them here. In fact Aaron just picked up a bunch of frames from a thrift store for about .99 a piece, 8X10 size. He's fixing them up, repainting them, and adding some of his old art. :)

Nancy said...

Hello Angela,
Thank you for visiting!

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What a sweet cutie you have and you are really creative! see you soon...