Filed under: Crafts , Essential Skills , Know-How , Crafts & Celebrations Hate the art, love the frame? You can retrofit a new piece of art (or your favorite photo) into a professional frame without making a big mess of it all. Now that’s what we call artistic inspiration! Don’t break the bank trying to frame your new piece of art. Just retrofit it into an existing frame. Photo: Joe Provey, Home & Garden Editorial Services To frame a print, photo, or work of art is an expensive proposition if you have it done professionally. A custom-framing job, even if you select one of the lower-priced moldings, can easily top $150. Let’s say you have a piece of art that’s been professionally framed; you’re no longer interested in the art, but you love the frame. And you — or someone else — paid a pretty penny to have it professionally finished. Turn it around and you’ll notice that professional framing jobs do not allow you to easily swap out the photo inside, like store-bought frames do. They’re neatly finished with backing paper and staples. So you wonder: Is that framing job now worthless, or is there a way to swap out a photo from its framework without making a big mess of it all? The answer is no, it’s not worthless. And yes, you can reuse the frame. Just follow these steps for picture-perfect results. Tools and Materials: A roll of plain brown kraft paper Framer’s tape , which is acid-free and won’t degrade your art Glue tape or white glue Utility knife or hobby knife http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,localizationConfig,entry&id=928877&pid=928876&uts=1283522062 http://www.aolcdn.com/ke/media_gallery/v1/ke_media_gallery_wrapper.swf Swap Out a Professionally Framed Picture Lay the frame face-down, and use a utility knife to carefully cut away the paper backing with a sharp utility knife. (The frame you see here is actually a cheap piece of art I scored at a local housewares store, but it’s framed exactly the same way as a more expensive piece of art.) Swap Out a Professionally Framed Picture Use a flathead screwdriver to pry back the staples. Do not remove the staples. You’ll reuse them, along with he cardboard backing, after you’ve inserted your print. Swap Out a Professionally Framed Picture Remove the print, photo, or painting inside the frame by removing the tape. Then take off the mat. If the cutout is suitable for your print, great. If not, enlarge the cutout to suit. Mark the cut lines on the back of the mat, and use a metal straightedge and sharp utility knife to make the cuts. Swap Out a Professionally Framed Picture A good trick for ensuring a properly positioned print: Apply glue tape to the back of the mat along the top edge of the cutout. Glue tape comes in a dispenser that allows you to apply a thin layer of adhesive. Two dispensers with “tape” are available at office supply stores for about $5. Swap Out a Professionally Framed Picture Put the new print on a flat surface and carefully align the mat over it. Once it’s properly positioned, press along the top edge of the mat cutout as shown. Swap Out a Professionally Framed Picture Flip the matted artwork over and tape the art to the mat with acid-free framer’s tape. You can buy a roll of framer’s tape at an art supply store for about $12; one roll will be enough for a half dozen framing jobs. Look for one that can be removed with heat should you ever want to reframe the art. Swap Out a Professionally Framed Picture Glue on a new kraft paper backing. Apply glue tape as shown above or white glue to the back of the frame. Then press the kraft paper in place. When dry, trim away excess. Bend the staples back into place. Or, for a cleaner finish, do what the professionals would do — use a staple gun. The best part is that the framing hardware is still intact, so you can hang that baby right up on the wall! Swap Out a Professionally Framed Picture Tweet Home Improvement | DIY | Linking Blogs | Comments
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DIY Warrior: Swap Out a Professionally Framed Picture