So with J gone for fleet week (*sigh* it has only been seven days and it feels like foreverrrr already), I have been keeping myself busy with baby P but also, of course, with TONS of crafts, haha. Earlier this week I found an adorable beachy frame on clearance at our local craft store and picked it up for J’s Mom (with all the running around for my niece’s b-day I wasn’t able to get my MIL a Mother’s Day gift, just a card), who loves beach themed decor so my plan was to put a picture of baby P from one of our recent beach trips in the frame. However, when I printed the picture I wanted to use, the store cropped it wrong and I ended up having to use another, but being the weirdo that I am, I couldn’t bring myself to throw out a picture of baby P even though it was basically useless (wow, I am a FREAK lol). In an ah-ha! moment I had the idea to use it in our guest bathroom, which is beach themed and a little gallery wall where baby P’s beach photo would fit perfectly (check out our guest bathroom update saga here). In my mind the project was going to involve rope, a picture frame and some of those baby clothes pins I had picked up for a party craft I am making in the near future, but to save myself the running around looking for rope (especially when I probably wouldn’t use it again, defeating the purpose of this craft being essentially free), I decided to just use twine I already had at home and instead of a frame I purchased a dowel for $0.59 to create my own “frame”. So, yesterday during P’s nap I whipped up this little picture frame in about 15 minutes, but the ease of this craft isn’t even the best part. The best part would be that when broken down, this craft costs about $0.75!!! Baby P looked on in delight as I hung it as part of our little bathroom gallery wall this morning and I just know our guests will love seeing it too :).

The original picture that prompted this idea, isn’t my squishy baby sweet?

YOU WILL NEED:

NOTE: If you find a cheap thrift store picture frame you could use that in place of the dowel, simply remove the glass and begin the instructions at step 3. Also, this does not need to be beach themed, you can wrap the frame in whatever material you would like and then embellish with something that suits your style!

• A dowel (round or square, whatever your preference)
• Hack Saw (or any saw, if you are desperate you can use scissors if you dowel is skinny enough)
• Sand Paper (optional)
• Rope or twine
• Glue Gun
• Mini Clothes pin (available at most craft stores, if you are making a larger version of the frame you could use a regular sized clothes pin)
• Ribbon (optional, you could just use more rope or twine in it’s place if you’d like)
• Sea Shells or Beach Glass (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1: Take your dowel and measure and mark the lengths of your frame size. I chose to do a 7″X7″ square frame since I only had a small amount of space available on my wall. Then use your hack saw to cut the four pieces and then sand off any remaining wood pieces or roughness on the edges (no need to make it perfect, you will be covering this anyway). NOTE: If you are desperate, just hack at your dowel using scissors until you weaken it enough to snap it with your hands, it will be uneven on the edges but you can sand them. Ghetto option I know, but I know some peeps don’t have saws and I like to be an equal opportunity crafter, lol!

Step 2: Arrange your four sides in a square as if they are lincoln logs (two on the bottom and two on the top overlapping). You can also do one under the other or glue the corners so that the frame will lay completely flat, it is up to you but personally I liked the way it looked using the lincoln log method. Use a dot of hot glue to attach each of your four corners.

Step 3: Now, beginning at a corner, use a dot of hot glue to attach the end of your rope or twine to the frame. Then apply a small line of glue to the frame and working a few inches at a time, begin wrapping the rope or twine tightly around the frame. Work quickly so the glue does not dry before you press the rope to it. Continue this process around the body of the frame until it is completely covered.

Step 4: Once you have finished the frame, decide where you want your picture to fall within it, then cut a piece of twine long enough to reach across the back width of the frame, securing it at either end with a dot of hot glue.

Step 5: Now, cut two pieces of ribbon, twine or rope of equal length (you will use these to hang the frame), the length depends on your personal preference. To attach each piece, place a dot of glue at each of the two top corners of the frame and secure an end of each piece. Tie them at the top in a bow or knot and it is ready to hang!

Step 6: The last step is optional, but if you wish you can embellish your frame. I used a single seashell attached with hot glue at one of the lower corners. Hang your frame, high-five yourself and if you’re a Mom decided what you’d like to do with the other 45 minutes of naptime! 🙂

Don’t forget to check out my post on our guest bathroom update, where you can view before and after pictures of our bathroom and all of our decor 🙂