Magnetic Photo Frame Tutorial

One of my New Year's resolutions is to get organized. I am trying to tackle one drawer or cabinet per day. Today I was working on the spice cabinet when I glanced over and noticed the hodge podge of photos, invites, memos, etc. all over my fridge. There must be a more esthetically pleasing way to display these things, right? So I checked out Pinterest and found these adorable magnetic frames. They were so easy! After I made the first two, I could pretty much make one from start to finish in less than 10 minutes. Cheap, easy, quick and cute. Try it out!

Materials Needed

Foam Core Board
Scrapbook Photo Frames made from cardstock (optional)
Poster Board (if you are making your own templates, also optional)
Scrapbook Paper
Magnetic Tape Strips
Sharp Craft Knife
Sharpie Marker
Spray Adhesive
Glue
Fine Grit Sand Paper
Craft Paint
Foam Brushes

Step 1

If you are making your own frame templates, draw or trace them out on to the poster board. After I purchased the poster board, I raided my scrapbook box and found a bunch of frames made from card stock so I used those instead of the poster board. Using my Sharpie (well, after I finally found my Sharpie anyway...), I just traced them directly on to the foam core board. After tracing several of these, I then had a light bulb moment. Why not just go grab a picture frame from the hallway and take the back off and glass out and trace that? So I did. And it worked AWESOME. This is especially great if you want to make a bigger frame or you have a cool shaped frame you can trace.

















Step 2
Put a cutting board under where you will be cutting. Using your craft knife, cut out the outer and inner frame of the board.













Step 3
Choose the scrapbook paper that you would like to cover your frame with and cut paper slightly bigger in size than the frame. Next, spray your frame with the spray adhesive (I go outside on the lawn for this part). Stick the scrapbook paper design side up on top of the frame. Now turn it design face down on the cutting board so you can see the overlap of paper and trim the excess off all outer sides.

















Step 4
Cut an X from corners to corners on the inside of the frame. It should look like this-



















Step 5-
Using a foam brush, dab it in glue (I used Mod Podge Decopauge Glue) and brush the inside of one side of the frame. Fold over the paper flap onto the back and hold until secure, smoothing out any wrinkles or bubbles. Glue all 4 sides. Trim off an excess corners that overlap the edge. Here is a pic of the back after I glued it.


















Step 6
Lightly sand the rough edges of the frame. This hides any uneven cuts or bumps from the foam board.

Step 7
Using a coordinating craft paint that will complement your paper, brush all 4 edges of the frame. I used a dark brown for mine. Some of the paint might get on the front edges of the frame. I just lightly wiped it with a damp paper towel and it gave it kind of an antiqued look that I really liked! (As you can see, I need a manicure STAT!)














Step 8
After the paint has dried, peel and stick the magnet strips on the back of the frame. You may need to cut the strips depending on the size of your frame.













Step 9
Find a cute picture, child's art work, school note, ect., keeping in mind that it needs to be slightly larger than the opening in the center, so the edges of the photo/paper will be hidden under the frame. Now go stick it on the fridge! (These frames are also perfect for filing cabinets, memo boards, ect.)





- Nicole