I wanted to make my husband something for his desk with a picture of us. I didn’t want to just have a regular photo in a frame, I wanted something different. I wanted to make something a little more rustic and manly, so I made up this rustic picture frame with the photo transferred onto wood. This is a fun way to make something unique and rustic (it is supposed to look rustic and not perfect, if I wanted just a plain picture I would have just put it into a frame :D).
Here is a video to show the process of making this, it’s so cool to watch the photo transfer onto the wood!
This is how I made it:
I cut a piece of wood into a square that was 7 1/2″x 7 1/2″ and then I cut a frame out of a 1×2. I stained the wood a provincial color.
Now for the fun part, transferring the photo to the wood. You cannot use a regular photo, instead you need to use a photo copy (or a printed picture with a laser jet printer). I took an 8×10 photo and then used a copier to make a copy of the picture. I used Mod Podge photo transfer medium.
I cut the picture down to the size that the board was.
I then painted the transfer medium onto the picture (if you have words then you need to mirror the image). You don’t want a super thick layer but you don’t want too thin either or the image will just come off.
Next I put the image face down onto the wood and pressed down everywhere so there weren’t any bubbles.
I then let it completely dry (I let it sit for like 1 1/2 hours). Then using a wet rag, I started rubbing off the paper. You don’t want the rag to be too wet and you don’t want to put too much pressure onto the wood of you will remove the image too.
Once I got the first layer of paper off with the rag, I then used my finger and got some more off. It takes some time to get it all off, just try to not do it too hard.
Using the stain I used to stain the frame, I put it around the edges where the image came up (remember I was going for a rustic look).
Now for the frame. I took the frame and used a Ryobi brad nailer and 1 1/4″ nails and put the frame on.
And that’s it!! It’s a fun way to display photos!
And here it is on a shelf, all ready to go to my husband’s desk at his office :).
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