How to Make HUGE DIY Custom Picture Frames--SO EASY!

[Music] hey guys it's shara from woodshop diaries and today i'm going to share with you how i made these huge pet picture frames now side note you obviously don't have to frame your pets and you can make these in any size that you want now i know that you're typically checking out the channel for furniture builds and this isn't exactly a furniture build but i've got several projects in limbo but i had been working on these this week and so i just thought i would share them but before we dive in i do want to talk just a second about custom framing so there are a ton of places out there that will offer custom framing and some of them are pretty pricey but some of them are actually pretty comparable to the price that you would pay just to make it yourself that said making this yourself will likely save you some money but if you're looking to make something pretty standard it may not be worth your time to make it yourself unless you just enjoy the process but if you're like me and you're making something that's pretty out of the ordinary it's probably going to save you a good chunk of money to just make it yourself personally i like to make my own stuff because a lot of times i break the rules and it's easier for me to just make it myself than explain to somebody why i don't want something done the normal way as an example typically you would frame your photo so that the photo is centered and it's the same orientation as the frame obviously i didn't follow either of those rules in this case so for me it was easier to just make these myself than to convince a custom framer to do this for me all that said if you're ready to tackle making your own custom picture frames let's get building all right so for supplies and materials you'll need something to frame i printed these off from walgreens i think they were like eight or nine dollars a piece so and these are 16 by 20s so not bad i also picked up three sheets of 30 by 36 plexiglas these are a little under an eighth of an inch thick which is like perfect for a picture frame now fyi the plexiglas for this project was the most expensive part these were about 35 a sheet and i realized after i bought them that i could have probably just picked up some really large poster frames from like walmart or amazon for about 20 bucks and just taking the plexiglass out of the frames those frames are typically pretty crappy so you can just trash those but the plexiglas is usable so if you're looking to save a little bit of money in the process of building these check out some poster frames you might be able to work with the plexiglass there and then i've got some white matte board this is basically like really thick paper i got this from hobby lobby you could get this at like any craft or framing store this comes in a 32 by 40 inch sheet so i'm gonna have to cut these down obviously but you can cut this with like a utility knife or like an exacto knife now for the actual frame i'm using one by twos for the outside of the frame and then like these really thin strips these are like an inch wide about three-quarter inches thick but you could purchase three-quarter inch dowels which would be three quarter by three quarter these thinner strips will be the inside frame and then the one by two is the wider strips will be the outside frame this is just one example basically any size wood that you prefer for this would be fine [Music] before cutting anything i went ahead and stained my pieces you can stain or paint however you wish and if you want you can also just wait until these are assembled [Music] now the first step in this project is determining your plexiglas size which will actually also tell you the size of the inside frame which is the first part that we're going to be building now the sizing here is completely up to you and if you don't feel comfortable cutting your own plexiglass i do suggest that you find some pre-cut pieces that the size will work for you as is cutting isn't bad but it is an extra tool and an extra step in the process now what i did to figure out my sizing was first i looked at the height so my plexiglas pieces were already 36 inches long and i decided that that would be a good height so i just left it as is at 36 so i didn't have to trim that side but for the width i decided that i wanted about two and a half inches of matte board on each side of the picture but the plexiglas will also cover these one-inch wide pieces on each side of the frame so basically to figure out my plexiglas size i would need to take the width of my picture which this is a 16 by 20 so we've got 20 plus two and a half on each side which is five plus the one inch frame on each side which is another two so 20 plus five plus two would be 27 so that means i need to cut my plexiglas panel 27 inches wide and it was already 36 so i just left this dimension but i also need to build my inside frame here to be slightly larger than the plexiglas so if my plexiglass is 27 by 36 i made my inside frame 27 and an eighth by 36 and an eighth that will also be the size that will cut the mat and the cardboard but we'll get to that point in a minute i mitered all the corners here at 45 degrees and cut my one inch wide inside frame pieces and again you could also just use square dowels or one by twos for this instead i cut four pieces that when fit together would have the overall dimension about an eighth of an inch larger in both directions than the plexiglass panel now you can use a regular wood glue for this but for these small pieces i just used some crazy glue fast dry wood glue it made assembly really clean and quick and it allowed me to just hold the mitered corners good and tight instead of messing with a bunch of clamps each corner took just a few seconds to dry and it seems to hold just fine but you can glue this up however you wish [Music] once the inside frame was together i cut to fit one by twos to go along the outside to kind of thicken it up a little visually i used the same wood glue to attach these along the sides and i used a scrap piece of quarter inch plywood to keep my spacing consistent so that the inside frame was inset from the back edge of the 1x2 about a quarter of an inch that will allow for kind of a quote-unquote lip on the back to place the glass panel and backer into [Music] with the frame assembled i moved on to cutting the plexiglas now depending on your frame size and the plexiglas that you're working with you may or may not have to cut it if you can make a pre-cut piece work without cutting it that's probably what i would recommend now there are tons of ways to cut plexiglass but i just used my circular saw with a finish blade i used a straight edge and a couple of clamps to cut it down and i left the protective layer on it while i cut this just helps prevent chipping and scratching during the cut they also make special utility type knives that will cut plexiglas as well if you prefer not to use a power tool for this and now the most frustrating part cutting the mat board if you've ever worked with mat board before you know that it's basically like a cross between cardboard and paper it's thicker than paper but thinner than cardboard and it's really dense and it can chip and shred so go slow and use a sharp knife and just generally be careful i laid my mat board onto some scrap cardboard and marked where to cut the overall size then i used a utility knife and a straight edge to cut it then i marked where to cut the opening to place my picture in note that you probably want to mark on the back side as pencil marks will be hard to remove later and with that said if you place it face down on your cardboard you want to make sure that your cardboard is clean matboard isn't very forgiving as far as getting rid of smudges or blemishes my pictures were 16 by 20. so i made my opening here 15 and a half by 19 and a half this just allows for a quarter inch wiggle room on all sides to place the photo in i used a sharp utility knife to carefully cut out the hole making sure to cut all the way through now i'm not great at this so mine were not perfect and i had to go back and clean up some rough edges where i got off my straight edge a little if you're a perfectionist maybe don't cut your own mat board it's kind of frustrating at this point it was time to put it all together i placed the plexiglas on the back side of the frame and cleaned it then i added the mat board and the photo which i taped in place so it doesn't slide down [Music] and finally i cut some cardboard to fit over the back side to hold everything tight i use these picture frame tabs along the back edge in several places i love these things as it makes swapping out photos easy and it helps hold all the stuff inside the frame in place i will link the ones that i used in the video description below and finally to hang it i added a sawtooth hanger in the middle at the top just a helpful tip the little nails that come with these sawtooth hangers are very tiny and you will smash your fingers trying to hold them while you tap them in place so i used a set of pliers here to hold my nail to get it started now i know this isn't the fanciest framing but it's exactly what i wanted for these pictures and it's such a simple but fun statement piece hanging on the back wall of our dining room there are thousands of ways to make picture frames but i hope you enjoy this really simple method it's great for frames of any size and completely customizable to fit your needs and your style and of course best of all it's easy and doesn't require a bunch of specialized tools i'm going to be sharing some fun shop projects and new furniture builds in the coming weeks so if you enjoyed this video and want to see what's next be sure to subscribe to the channel so you don't miss those videos thanks so much for watching friends and until next time happy building

Channel: Shara Woodshop Diaries

Views: 227,430

Keywords: how to make a picture frame, how to make a picture frame out of wood, how to make a large picture frame out of wood, diy art projects for large walls, super easy diy picture frame, making large picture frame, making large picture frames diy, how to make a large picture frame with glass, how to frame a photo at home, how to make a big photo frame at home, how to make a photo frame at home very easy, how to make a unique photo frame at home, diy custom picture frames

Id: EWIkFXzjVUc

Length: 10min 41sec (641 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 23 2022