I have to say Pinterest is awesome and has become a go- to for me when I am searching for ideas for certain things. It is also a black hole sometimes where adhd takes over and I start pinning all the things instead of just what i’m looking for. You know how you start looking at one thing but somehow end up looking at something completely different. The thing about Pinterest though is you have to check to make sure the pins take you back to the correct link for the DIY or recipe because so many times they do not. Sometimes though I will keep a pin around thinking I can figure out how to do that myself. That is how I came up with these collage picture frame. The Pin’s I had took me to Etsy or to a slideshow of different picture frames but no directions on how to make the frames for myself. Well there should be directions so here are mine!

How to make a Collage Picture Frame 

Materials

• Picture Frame (Thrift stores are awesome for these! I bought a huge one for $5)
• Paint (I used spray paint)
• Hemp Cord
• Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
• Mini Clothes Pins
• Pictures
• Newspaper or Cardboard (to cover work area)

Directions

1. Prepare Your Frame.

After going to the thrift store or finding a frame around the house that you would like to use the first step is to prepare your frame. Remove any pictures and/or glass. Clean your frame and make sure it is dust and gunk free. If there are rough areas you may need to sand them a little bit. You will be painting the frame.

2. Paint

Once your frame is ready you will be painting it. It seems lately everybody is all about chalk paint but I went with spray paint. Yes, spray paint.  After helping at a remodel of Restaurant Impossible and using spray paint to make light fixtures look new again I became a huge fan of the method. Spray paint works wonderfully for this.

This is what I used. I liked the fact that it had a primer also.

With spray paint you just need to be careful to  use nice even strokes/sprays so the paint doesn’t drip. You may need to go over the frames a couple times.

Then all you have to do is allow it to dry. I let my frames sit for 24 hours before proceeding to the next step.

3. Add Hemp Cord

Once your frames are dry it is time to add the hemp cord rows that you will use to hang the pictures from. Use a picture if needed and plot out your rows. Remember to  allow space for the clips you will be using to hang the pictures up by. Once you have plotted your rows there are 2 methods  that you can use to attach the rows.

In the first method you can use the staples that are in the back of the frame and tie tightly.

For my picture frames I was unable to do this because my staples were not even.

The second method is how I made both of my frames. I used a hot glue gun and hot glue. Yes, I use my hot glue gun for everything. Recently my big hot glue gun went to glue gun heaven so I had to pull out my back up mini glue gun.

All I did was add a drop of hot glue to the back of the frame. Place hemp cord in glue and hold tightly against frame until set. I then pulled the cord across and repeated. I then cut off excess hemp cord.

4. Add clips and Pictures

The last and final step is to add your clips to the hemp cord rows and then your ready for pictures! My clips came from Target in their dollar spot but I have found the mini clothespin clips at Walmart in the office supply section.

And there you go a super easy to make collage picture frame. All I need to do is go through the thousands of pictures I have and start to fill it up.