Recycled Magazine Picture Frames

Your finished picture frames will be colorful and impressive, but they can be a bit time-consuming. Even so, the process is relaxing and gives you lots of time to chat and catch up. You can also take in some favorite TV shows together or even rent a beloved movie to watch while you cut, roll and create your picture frames.

Step 1: Cutting & Rolling
You’ll start out by cutting magazine pages into strips that are about 3 inches wide. They don’t have to be perfect, but try to keep them relatively straight. You’ll want to cut about 60 strips, depending on the size of your shoebox lid. You can even create a unified theme by only cutting out strips in certain colors, strips with white boarders, or multi-colored strips. Advertisements tend to work best because they often use vibrant, solid colors.

Once you have your strips, you can start the rolling process. Take one corner of each strip and roll as tightly as you can, at a diagonal, to create straw-like sticks. You can tighten your roll once it is created by twisting it in your hands. Right after you roll and twist, use a small amount of decoupage glue with a brush to tack down the ends and the corner of loose paper. Use your fingers to smooth out the edges and glue. Don’t use too much glue though, so your sticks remain somewhat flexible.

Step 2: Cutting Time
Once you have all of your sticks rolled, cut off the ends with a craft knife, to make sure they have even ends. You may need to use a little extra decoupage glue to make sure they stay rolled.

Use your pencil to trace a square onto the back of your shoebox lid that is approximately 1/4” smaller all the way around than the photo size you plan you plan to use. If you want you can also create two or more holes for photos by centering them and measuring an even distance between each window. Using your craft knife or a box cutter, very carefully cut the square out of the box lid.

Step 3: The Glue Process
Before gluing your sticks to the lid, cut out a few pages from a magazine to cover it. This helps make it easier to adhere the sticks to the lid. Using your brush, cover the lid on all sides with a thin layer of decoupage glue, and then cover with pieces of magazine pages cut to size. Try to make sure that you smooth out any bubbles or ridges so the sticks can lay flat on top.

Now you’re ready to start gluing your sticks onto your lid. Lay out some of the sticks on the lid to decide how you’d like to arrange them around the picture windows. You’ll need to use your scissors to cut some of the sticks to size so you can attach them around the holes.

Next, brush decoupage glue length-wise or side-to-side along the lid depending on your chosen arrangement. Attach your magazine sticks to the glue, placing them flush against each other, side-by-side. Be sure to not press too hard as you glue them down so they can retain their rounded shape. Simply hold together, gently pressing to make sure they stick. You’ll want to keep gluing and attaching your sticks until the whole lid is covered.

Step 4: Finish the Picture Frame
Once you finished gluing your sticks to the frame, take it to a well-ventilated area and spray with an even coat of polyurethane. This seals it and gives it a glossy shine. Make sure to follow any safety instructions listed on the bottle of polyurethane when using.

Once the picture frame is dry, use clear tape to secure the photo behind the window you cut out earlier. Tape down the top and bottom securely. Now your picture frame is ready to hang and display! It’s perfect for kid’s room, study, family room or home office décor.

After everyone has finished their crafting, round up what’s left of the magazines for recycling. Magazines can often be recycled in curbside bins or at local recycling centers. Some of your friends also may want to keep their leftovers so they can make more rolled magazine frames.

Clean Up:
You may end up with some magazine scraps littering your floor after your crafting day is through, but you can effectively round up messes big and small with Swiffer ^® SweeperVac ^®.