Giving Framed Art as Gifts

I have two fun ideas that would make great gifts that use picture frames.  They are really easy to pull together and make for a very personalized and cute gift.

This first idea was one my sister and I did for Father's Day this year as a surprise for our husbands as well as our dad.  It is pretty self explanitory and SO easy to put together.  I bought the letters at Hobby Lobby and painted them different colors.  The heart is a piece of pink felt that I cut to be a heart.  All you need to do is take a picture while holding the different parts of "We <3 U", print it out, and put it into a frame.  I got this frame at Hobby Lobby as well.  So for a total cost of $15, this was a really great gift that my husband brought to his office and enjoys every day. The good news is that you don't have to do it just for Father's Day.  You can use this idea for any holiday or birthday!

The next gift that I wanted to talk about is this fun photo holder.  My mom made this one, but she showed me how she put it together.  Here is a little mini tutorial for you.

You begin with an old frame.  This one is a little bigger than an 11X14 I think.  If you don't have an old frame on hand, you can get a frame at the local thrift store, add a coat of paint and use it just as easily.  You will also need some fun fabric, some sort of twine or jute, mini clothes pins, and cute photos.

My mom then got a piece of cardboard that was cut to the size of her frame.  Then she cut the fabric to the same size.  Next, she added some glue to the edge of the cardboard and placed the fabric in position. For this project, she used the elmers craft glue.  My mom said that it is pretty powerful stuff.  It isn't your typical Elmer's glue that you can use to peel off like skin. (You know you've done it before.)

Once it has dried, just use a staple gun to attach it to the frame.  Flip it over and use the staple gun to attach the jute to the frame.  There is no exact science to this.  Just put it wherever looks right.

Now you can add the photos of your cuties or leave it empty for the person who is receiving the gift to fill it up with cute faces.  It is a fun and personalized gift that anyone would love to get.