Supplies:
- Poster board. I recommend the thick kind with the extra foam in the middle so it can handle being moved and touched a lot.
- Cardstock
- Scoring tool or similar tools to help you create some curves in your flowers. You could even use the end of a paintbrush.
- Glue. I used Bears craft glue, but other glues will also work.
- Vinyl
- Cricut machine or other similar cutting machines.
- Exacto knife
- Ruler
Steps:
- Measure and draw out the area you would like to cut out. Make sure you make your boarder thick enough for your words and flowers or other decorations. Also do not forget to think about how you would like your guests to hold your photo frame.
- Use an exacto knife to cut out the center of your poster board where your guest’s faces will go.
- Make flowers and greenery to go around your photo frame. I used a few different types of flower designs and went with a more symmetrical look.
- Use a scoring tool or other tool to help give some shape to your flowers and greenery. I used very thick cardstock which was difficult to work with and made my flowers look more stiff. The leaves were a thinner cardstock and look more natural.
- For the leaves, I used the palm of my hand and used my scoring tool to make a crease down roughly the center of all my leaves.
- For my flowers I used my scoring tool to roll the ends of my flower petals. I also offset my flower petals, so they were not right on top of each other.
5. I used my Cricut to cut permanent vinyl of our names and date. You could also use removable vinyl for this.
- I thought about doing a quote or saying here but could not think of one I liked. I thought the names and date would be nice so when my guests look back on these photos, they will remember they were from our wedding.
6. Apply your vinyl to your photo frame. You may want to place your flowers and greenery in place to help you determine the placement of your vinyl.
7. Use glue to attach flowers and greenery.
8. Say cheese and take a photo with your frame to admire your crafty work.
I originally wanted my photo frame to be blue, but I could not find a large poster board in blue. I tried spray painting the poster board. I heard some people say this works, but it did not work for me. I also tried just applying a thin coat of acrylic paint. In both cases the poster board bubbled and wrinkled. I also had some photo props that I found very cheap. So, I just bought these instead of making my own. My guests seemed to use a combination of just props, just the frame, and both the frame and the props. I also provided a ring light because the area where the makeshift photo booth was located was dark. Guests could then place their phones on a timer in the middle of the ring light. The ring light actually seemed to make some photos cloudy looking. So, it would have been better if I left the ring light off. I did not think to do test taking photos at the venue. So, something you might want to do at your event.
I changed my design a few times when making this photo frame, but in the end I think it looked nice. I originally was going to make my flowers out of vinyl or a print then cut sticker. I found some foam flowers on sale at Hobby Lobby and bought them to test on my poster board. I ended up liking them, so I spray painted them and added them to my photo frame. This is when I decided to make my flowers out of cardstock. I really liked the 3D flowers coming off the photo frame. Next time, I would just use thinner cardstock so they would bend easier and not look quite so stiff looking. The greenery really made a difference and I love that I made the greenery look more natural by having it come over the edges of the poster board. My guest seemed to really like this photo frame. It was not too difficult to put together and did not cost a lot either.
