DIY Picture Frame

 To make a long story, short, my Mom bought us an early anniversary present, and when I went in get a quote for how much it was going to be to get it professionally framed, I just about fainted. I literally thought to myself, "Bring on the power tools."  As soon as that thought crossed my mind, it all made so much sense. Why on earth have I not thought about learning to make my own frames, by now?! Not only is photography a huge part of my personal life, but I've also built a photography business from the ground up. I love to display images of my own family and our adventures, around our home, and I also encourage my clients to do the same, with the images that they hire me to capture. It just all made sense. So, in true My Eclectic Eye's spirit, off to Lowe's I went to price out a router.

I'm going to be the first one to say that my husband helped me tremendously, in this department, because I don't ever recall even looking at a router in any of my shop classes, when I was in school. It was really fun to learn as we went along. We first practiced, with some 2x4s and then once I finally settled on some moulding, that I ordered online, we were confident enough to start turning it into a picture frame. With a rabbiting bit, the router was used to create an inside edge for the mats to sit inside, while protecting the print.

The molding that I chose, of course was too wide for the biggest setting between the rabbit bit and the fencing. So, my genius husband created another 'fence' on the other side, using a 2x4 and some c-clamps. Genius, I tell you! Genius! It worked like a charm.

Once all the pieces were routed, we decided how big we wanted it to be, based on the print and the mats that I cut for it. (I forgot to take pictures of the matting process, and can do a quick tutorial in the future, if anyone is interested. Once you've practiced on a couple of scrap pieces, it's not too hard to get the hang of mating a print.)

Then, we used our chop saw, and cut our 4 - 45's, at the desired length. 

When I initially opened up my the molding, I was surprised to find that the back of it was hallow. So we had to get creative, to add some integrity to the frame. We used solid maple and made some corners that we secured into the back of each corner of the frame. Since the moulding was polyurethane based, we had to be careful with using the corner clamps, while waiting for the glue to dry. So, we used glue and staples to keep the corners in place, as it dried. As with the solid maple corners, we made sure to corner clamp each one. Once everything was dry, we used E600 glue to secure the wood to the polyurethane frame. We definiltey made sure to do it in a ventilated area, since the fumes are pretty harsh. (But from past experience with other projects, I knew that I wouldn't have to worry about it getting the job done.) We placed weights on each solid wood piece, while it was drying, to ensure maximum contact with the two pieces of material.

Once, everything was all dry, I spray painted the frame, with a glossy white finish. Then all that was left was placing the matted print inside the frame, and closed it off with some backing and secured it all in with some brads. Again, I totally forgot to take pictures of this part and can include it in a picture mating tutorial, later on, if anyone is interested. I didn't use glass in this, because we ordered a metallic print (it's printed on a thin piece of metal, to give it a unique look). I research about different opinions about putting glass over a metallic print, and I decided to not add glass in the end.  The metallic print is very durable and doesn't normally need the protection from the glass like a normal print would. And secondly, I read of situations, where the combination of the light hitting the glass and then the metallic print, made the image look blurred in some areas.

The print is a Megan Kelly - Rexburg, Idaho Temple  print. The Rexburg LDS Temple is where my husband and I were married, 6 years ago. We've always wanted a big print, to hang in our home, with a classic, Idaho sunset in the background. When we lived there  I never had the opportunity to capture one with a sunset and so I've always tried to keep my eye out for one. One day, I came across Megan Kelly's Temple Prints and fell in LOVE with them! She definitely has a talent for capturing the beauty of the temples. And I LOVED that she captured the Rexburg Temple so perfectly! I love supporting other small town photographers and was I so excited to order this beautiful metallic print to hang in our home, curtesy of my very thoughtful Momma. 

I decided to hang it on the large wall on our staircase. I love how it's the first thing we all see, when we head downstairs for the day. It's a great reminder of where our little family all started!