How-to recipes

How to make a cardboard picture frame

A cardboard picture frame is two rectangles from a cereal box, a window cut in the front, a photo sandwiched between. The adult cuts the window. Kids decorate. Finish photos need a place to live; the app keeps the picture even if the cereal box does not.

What you need

The box was going out anyway. Paint and scraps are optional; a clean kraft back is already a frame.

• A cereal box, cracker box, or similar thin cardboard. A shipping box works; it is harder to cut.
• Pencil and ruler.
• Scissors, and a craft knife if you have one — adult only, on a cutting mat or scrap board.
• Glue stick or craft glue. Tape for a temporary hold.
• A printed photo, a drawing, or a leaf rubbing sized to the window.
• Optional: paper scraps, yarn, stickers you already own, acrylic paint.

The steps

1. 01

   Open the box

   Flatten the cereal box and cut along a seam so you have a usable sheet. Cut two rectangles the same size — large enough for your picture plus a border of at least 3 cm on each side. A 10 × 15 cm print wants a frame around 16 × 21 cm. Keep a third strip, about 4 cm wide, for the stand.

2. 02

   Mark the window

   On the front rectangle, center the photo and trace it lightly. Draw a second rectangle about 5 mm inside that line. The inner line is what you cut. The 5 mm overlap hides the photo’s edge. Kids can help measure. You draw the final line.

3. 03

   Adult cuts the window

   Cut the inner rectangle. A craft knife against a ruler is the cleanest. On thin cereal board, pierce a starter hole with the knife tip, then finish with scissors. Do this before decorating so paint does not crack on a ragged cut. Kids decorate next. They do not hold the blade.

4. 04

   Kids decorate

   If the cereal brand is shouting, glue a sheet of paper over the printed side, or paint it. Then the border: torn paper, yarn wrapped at the corners, a single color. Leave the window clear. Let glue dry. This is the part that takes the 45 minutes, not the cutting.

5. 05

   Sandwich the picture

   Glue the photo onto the back rectangle so it shows through the window. Glue the decorated front on top, edges aligned. For the stand, fold the extra strip into a triangle, glue one face to the back, and check that the frame does not flop. Corrugated cardboard makes a sturdier foot if the cereal board bends.

6. 06

   Give it a place

   Stand it on a shelf. Photograph the finished frame. Crafty keeps that picture on the studio shelf even if the cardboard softens in a year. A card you send can be the photo; the object can stay in the house.

Variations

• A gift for the person who takes care of you. Same frame. A drawing inside. It does not require a particular family shape.
• A leaf rubbing or a snowflake. Paper in the window instead of a photo. Same construction.
• Thicker shipping cardboard. Sturdier, slower to cut. Entirely an adult cut. Kids still own the decoration.

How Crafty helps

The frame is a household upcycle. In Crafty — iOS; Crafty Kids in the store — the finish photo lives even when the object does not. How a Saturday goes is still a bench, a list, and a photograph. One free project is typical in a week; free projects stay open.

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Questions