Supplies:

1. Ikea picture frame or other surface you would like this to be on.   The Ikea picture frame I used was called Gunnabo. It is 8 x 10” without the matte inserted and 5 x 7” with the matte inserted.  I was unable to find this particular frame on Ikea’s website.  Amazon also sells this exact picture frame and I will provide you with the links.   
   • IKEA Gunnabo Frame Black 102.917.77 Size: 5×7
   • IKEA Photo Picture Frame- Black Gunnabo 5×7 Inch (2) Pack

2. Paint or marker 

3. Glue or tape to secure picture to cardstock  

4. Cardstock of your choice  

5. 4×6 picture  

6. My SVG file from my free library  

I had seen people making these Spotify picture frames with their Cricut to play a special song.  So, I decided to give it a try.  I wanted the words and things to be white to go well with my maroon cardstock, but I was currently out of white vinyl.  Plus, I was curious if it would work if I engraved it into acrylic.  Just the engraving of the Spotify code alone did not work.  It was too difficult for Spotify to read the code.  My acrylic was also clear, which did not help.  I tried putting dark background behind it, but that was not enough.  So, I decided to try coloring in the code with a dark marker I had.  This worked perfectly and it instantly found my song.  So, now that I knew it could work with the engraved acrylic it was time to engrave on my picture frame acrylic.  This acrylic was a lot thinner than my sample acrylic.  So, I put the setting at 50% power.  If you are using a glow forge for this project I went with the medium clear acrylic setting, and decreased the power to 50%.  I think for next time I might increase the power to 60%.  At 50% it did not quite engrave as well as I would have liked it to.  You could also use my free library file to cut everything out of vinyl and apply that to the surface of your choice.  You will just need to delete and insert your own Spotify code for the song of your choosing.   

Once my piece was engraved in the Glowforge I needed to color in the engraved pieces.  I chose to do this with white paint.  If you have a marker of your desired color this may work better and be neater.  Since I was using this Ikea picture frame the glass part was made of acrylic.  So, I was able to engrave directly onto the acrylic glass portion of the picture frame.  Next time I would recommend engraving on the inside portion of the acrylic glass, which means you will have to mirror everything before you engrave it.  I just think it will look nicer this way, but it is completely up to you.  Since my Ikeas picture frame came with a protective cover to peel off the acrylic, I left this one till I was finished painting the white over the engraved parts.  Once I was finished painting it, I then peeled this protective layer off.  This left a pretty clean line around everything.  The Spotify code was able to read my code, but it took a few seconds for it to read the code.  So, I decided to make the code a little more filled in by using a toothpick to carefully fill in all the engraved areas of the code.  So, maybe doing a second coat of paint before peeling of the protective layer would have been best.  If you get outside the line do not worry it will scratch off pretty easily once it is dry.  You can use a toothpick or a finger nail to scratch off any of the extra paint.   

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I set the acrylic glass of the frame to the side to dry.  I then cut my maroon cardstock down to size.  I used the cardboard backing that came with the picture frame to measure and cut the cardstock to the correct size.  Then I placed tape to the back of my 4×6 picture and stuck it to the cardstock.  I wanted to be able to remove the picture in the future if I needed to.  That is why I chose tape over glue.  You can use double sided tape or regular scotch tape and fold it to make it sticky on both sides.  Attach the picture to the cardstock however you find best, then assemble your picture frame.   

Now that everything is put together it is time to test it out.  Open up Spotify, and click on the search button at the bottom of the screen (magnifying glass image).  Next, click on the camera image at the upper right-hand corner of the screen.  A camera will appear inside a box.  Line up your entire code inside that box and the song should pop up within seconds.  Now sit back and enjoy the memories.  

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How to get Spotify code and then find your code to play your song.  

You will first need to download the Spotify app.  Then click on search menu (magnifying glass symbol) at the bottom of the screen.  Then click on the search bar at the top of the screen and type in the song you want.  Once you find your song click on it. 

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Next, click on the three dots just to the right of the heart.  Now, click on the album photo to make it bigger.  Take a screen shot of the album with the Spotify code.  I recommend a screen shot of this code vs just saving the image because it shows a little clearer.   Now with your screen shot photo of the Spotify code you will need to snip or crop the photo to show only the Spotify code. Note: you will need the circle Spotify logo as well in order for it to work.  Copy and paste this code only picture into my SVG file you downloaded from my free library. 

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I use a program called Inkscape.  It is a free program you can download onto your computer.  The following directions will be based on how to do this in Inkscape.  Select the photo you inserted of just the code.  Next, click Path at the top of the page followed by Trace Bitmap…  Now click OK in the bottom right corner of the screen that just popped up.  Next click the X at the top of that pop-up screen to close it.  There will now be a second picture of you Spotify code directly over your original one.  Click and hold down on the Spotify code then move your mouse away from the picture to move that second picture off of the original one.  You can now click on the original Spotify code (the one with the yellow background) and hit delete or backspace to get rid of it. 

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With the new Spotify code without a background you can scale it down to size with the arrows on the side of the image when you click on it. I recommend clicking on the Spotify code then hitting the lock button at the top of the page first before you do any resizing.  This lock button will keep the ratio of the image the same as you scale it down to the desired size.  You can always hit the Undo button under Edit if you mess up the size.  I recommend using my original purple Spotify code as a size reference and to help you line up your new Spotify code.  Then delete my purple Spotify code when you are finished.  Do not forget to also change the tile of the song as well as the name of the Album to match the song you chose.  You can do this by clicking on the words then hitting the backspace button and then typing in your song.  I also added a boarder to my design to help line things up according to the specific photo frame I used.  Feel free to delete this if you do not need it.  You will also have to select ignore when sending this to be cut or engraved.   

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If you have any questions do not hesitate to ask.  I tried to make it as simple as possible, but I know it sounds like a lot of steps.  It will get easier if you do it a few times.  Also please be careful if you chose to use the album cover as your picture you put above the song info.  You are not allowed to sell these with the album cover picture, because you will need the rights to this album in order to do so.  I recommend just using a picture of the people that are receiving this gift.   

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