DIY of the Week: Rainbow Picture Frame

It’s been a few years since I earned my degree, but August still feels like back-to-school time to me. It’s an exciting month, but also a melancholy one—as eager as I was to start on each new year at college, it was hard to say goodbye to my friends back in my hometown. That might be why my dorm room (not to mention my laptop’s hard drive) was always full of photos.

This week, I made a display for one of those treasured pictures, using colorful embroidery floss and a simple store-bought frame. The little heart-shaped charm adds a quirky detail, and the floss reminds me of a friendship bracelet—it would make a wonderful gift for a friend going off to college!

Materials:

• 4-inch by 6-inch picture frame (make sure you can remove the glass from it)
• Colorful embroidery floss
• Small charm
• Tapestry needle
• Scissors
• Craft glue

Craft away:

• Remove the backing and the glass from the picture frame, and set them aside.
• Choose your first color of embroidery floss. Tie a knot at one end of the floss, and glue the knot to the back of the picture frame.
• After the glue has dried, begin wrapping the embroidery floss around the picture frame. Continue wrapping until you have a band of floss that’s 1-inch wide.

• To finish the section of floss, thread the end of the embroidery floss through the tapestry needle. Pass the needle back under the wrapped floss and thread it through the loop that motion creates to tie a knot and hold your work in place.

• Repeat the above steps with the other colors of floss. You’ll need a bit more to completely cover the corners of the frame—just keep wrapping until the frame is no longer visible.
• When you reach the upper left-hand corner of the frame, thread the loose end of the embroidery floss through the tapestry needle. Slide the charm onto the floss using the needle. Determine where you want the charm to sit against the frame, and tie a knot to hold it in place. Then, remove the floss from the needle and continue wrapping as before.

• Once you have finished wrapping, replace the glass and backing in the frame. If you can’t fit the glass due to the extra volume of the floss, recycle it; you can trim the backing to fit inside the frame.
• Add a picture of you and your BFF. Give the frame as a gift, or display it yourself!