24 Jul 2017 Funky Frugal: Making fun frames

by Tanner Cangelosi

We recently performed a feat of unprecedented nature for us. We took all six of our tiny humans to the beach. It was so much work, but oh so worth it. Our kids loved every minute. Maybe not the nine hours in the car, but they loved every second at the beach.  

In order to document this momentous occasion, we took 2,347 pictures. The triplets don’t make the traveling team that often, so I had to properly document that they did do fun things in their toddler days for later proof. When we returned home, I printed around 20 pictures that I wanted to frame.  

I quickly realized that with all these pictures, it required at least a $10 frame, and that was a couple hundred dollars that needed to be spent on groceries. So, I began problem-solving.

I first started by replacing a few old pictures in frames with new beach pictures, so I cut down on my frame-buying cost. Next, I had a stroke of genius. I went to Dollar Tree, which happens to be one of my favorite dives, where I spent $15 on 15 frames.   

A few were simple 5×7 frames that looked like weathered beach wood. I just slapped those pictures in there and put them on a high shelf away from babies. You see, Dollar Tree frames can work if you keep them out of reach of anyone under 10. They are very fragile, but can work well in an office or top shelf display.  

My favorite project was the 11×14 frames I bought. Side note: If you ever need to replace 8×10 or 11×14 glass in a frame, buy it at Dollar Tree. It’s cheaper than anywhere else.

I took the large frames apart and spray painted the frame with some gold spray paint I had in my garage. I used some fun wrapping paper I purchased at T.J.Maxx. It was about $4 for the roll, and I still had a ton left over after this project. Next, I cut the paper to the size of the frames and glued the picture I had printed to the middle. Once I put them back together, the frames looked a bit classy.

I was so proud of this project that cost me about $20 total to frame 15 pictures. Totally worth it, and I could still buy my groceries.