What you’ll need

Unpainted wood picture frame

Acrylic paint

Interior varnish

Paintbrushes

Letter beads

Wire

Needle nose pliers

Hot-melt glue gun and glue sticks

Plastic table clothe

Paint tray

It’s a fact. All new parents (especially first-time moms and dads) are snap happy. They love to take photos of their beautiful new baby (my girls each have an entire album from their first week). That’s why a picture frame makes a perfect gift. It’s even better when it’s personalized.

This craft uses letter beads to add the baby’s name to a very cute, painted-by-you picture frame.

If your babies and your friends’ babies are all grown up, not to worry. Tailor the project to suit you. You can use the beads to spell any words. Make a frame and display photos of anyone – from your grandchildren to the family pet.

Letter bead picture frame

• Unfinished ready-to-decorate frames can be found at most stores that sell arts and crafts supplies. Choose any size – from 4x6 to 8x10. Pick up acrylic paint in a “baby” colour. Soft pastel yellows, blues, greens, pinks and purples are nice. Buy letter beads to spell the word “baby” and the infant’s name. You can also pick up letters and numbers to spell out the baby’s date of birth. You will also need to buy some wire. When choosing wire, make sure it is easy to bend and that the beads will easily slip onto it.
• Spread a plastic table clothe over your work surface. Remove the glass and backing from the picture frame. Set these aside. If the frame is rough, give it a quick sanding with a sheet of fine-grit finishing sandpaper. Paint the back of the picture frame.
• When the paint has dried, flip the frame over and paint the front and sides of the frame. Let the paint dry. If necessary, apply a second coat of paint. Be sure to allow the paint time to dry between coats.
• Next, pour a small amount of white acrylic paint onto your paint tray. Add a drop of the paint you used for the frame to the white paint. Mix. Use this lighter colour to add a faint pattern to the frame. On the frame shown, I painted swirls randomly over the frame. To make the swirls, use a fine tipped paintbrush, such as a spotter (I used 5/0). Practice painting swirls on a sheet of paper. Load the brush with paint. Touch the brush to the paper and paint in a circular motion, with the circle getting bigger as you go. For variety, paint some swirls going clockwise and some going counter-clockwise.
• When the paint has dried, coat the frame with water-based interior varnish. I used a gloss finish. If needed apply additional coats of varnish, making sure to allow the varnish to dry between coats.
• Next, cut a length of wire. Use needle nose pliers to make a swirl at one end. String the beads onto the wire to spell, “baby” and the infant’s name. Put a heart bead between the two words. When the beads are in place, trim the wire if necessary and form a swirl.
• Position the beads, centered, at the top of bottom of the frame. Glue them in place using either hot-melt glue or white glue, such as Weldbond.

Jennifer Roos is a freelance writer and author of Simply Seasonal: Easy Crafts for Winter, Spring, Summer & Autumn now available from Trinity Enterprise Inc.