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15 DIY Canvas Frames You Can Make Today (With Pictures)
Pete Ortiz
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Canvas pictures, whether a family portrait or your own work of art, look modern and minimalistic, but a frame can add a creative finishing touch. Frames can also help protect your canvas print from dust and moisture and save it if it falls off the wall.
Custom framing is a great option to fit your canvas’s unique size and shape, and the best part is that you can DIY one to suit your décor and accentuate your picture the way you want.
In this article, we provide you with 15 awesome DIY canvas frame ideas and plans for constructing them. There is one for every level of crafter, so you won’t have difficulty finding a DIY project for your skill level.
The Top 15 DIY Canvas Frames
1. DIY Floating Canvas Frame by Home Made by Carmona
Wood strips, corner braces, screws, paint or stain, fasteners, and joiners (optional)
Tools:
Measuring tape, drill, screwdriver, hammer
Difficulty Level:
Easy
A floating frame for a canvas can cost hundreds of dollars, but you can easily make one for a small fraction of the price. All you need is four wood strips in whatever thickness you prefer. Measure them so that your canvas will fit flush with the edges. Join them together using the brackets but remember to double-check that your canvas fits before joining the last corner, and be sure the screws aren’t too long and pierce through your wood.
Add a coat of wood stain or paint to your liking and if you want, add some extra stability with fasteners. This DIY canvas frame is a quick and easy project that won’t take longer than 2 hours to construct, and the results will be impressive.
2. Easy DIY Canvas Frame on a Budget by The DIY Playbook
This DIY canvas frame is one you can easily make, even if you are on the tightest budget. It won’t cost you more than $10 and will take a small portion of your time to make. In fact, it’s so simple that you may end up adding frames to just about anything you can. All you need is an FJ board cut to size, a few screws, and paint, which is optional.
If you do decide to paint your frame, it’s recommended to do it before you begin screwing it together. Cut your FJ board to fit the border of your canvas in 4 strips. Screw them to the canvas, ensuring your screws reach through the board and the side of your canvas. That’s it. Really, it’s that simple but so rewarding. Once your canvas is framed, you will notice that the screw heads are visible. You can leave them as they are if you want to go for a more industrial look, or you can paint over them. The raw ends where your board was cut will also need a quick coat of paint.
Wood, 2-inch finish nails, wood filler, sandpaper, paint or stain
Tools:
Saw, drill, hammer, corner clamps (optional)
Difficulty Level:
Easy to moderate
While this tutorial isn’t specifically for a canvas print, you can use your skills to customize it and have fun with the extra challenge. You can make the inside border of the frame flush with your canvas size, which creates a gap between the canvas and the outer border, adding dimension to the finished look. Once you are done, you can stain or paint the wood, or you can leave it in its raw, organic state and only add a varnish to protect the wood.
This project is fantastic because the frame is beautiful and inexpensive.
Wood lattice trim, sandpaper, nails, paint or stain
Tools:
Saw, nail gun or hammer
Difficulty Level:
Easy
This DIY canvas frame is excellent if you want something affordable, quick, and easy. Wood lattice trim is cheap and easy to work with and creates a delicate and subtle border around your canvas print. This is where you can get creative with colors that complement each other or use contrasting colors, such as a thin black border against a white print.
All you need is wood trim cut to size, painted or stained with your choice of color, so you can nail it to the edges of your canvas. You can quickly transform your canvas print in under an hour.
This DIY canvas frame is straightforward to construct and requires no power tools, so it’s suitable for absolute beginners. It looks minimalistic but fantastic, especially for framing large canvases. Paint the stretcher bars with your choice of paint or stain and staple or glue them to create a border around your canvas.
To create this rustic box frame, you can choose the thickness of the wood, but the wider the width, the more of a box effect you will get. Don’t go too wide though, as your canvas may get lost in the shadows it creates. What’s great about this project is that you can use repurposed wood, which create a rustic and organic frame for your canvas.
Cut your wood into sizes and join them to create a box using your brackets. Sand it down however smoothly you like. Light sanding will maintain texture, while sanding it smooth will highlight the grain of the wood. Add a coat of varnish or a coat of paint. Place your canvas into the frame and secure it with your mending plates, and voila!
You can frame your large canvas print on a budget with this easy to follow tutorial. The difference with a larger frame is that it needs a cradle to hold the back of the canvas and line it up with the front of the frame, so make sure you have extra wood for those parts.
Simply cut your wood to size, give it a light sanding, add a coat of stain or paint, and join the pieces together, using your speed square to make sure the corners are 90˚. This frame will add structure and accentuate your large canvas print, and the best part is that it will be easy on your budget.
The frames that your canvas is wrapped around can sometimes get warped , but this tutorial shows you how you can DIY a frame to fix it. If your canvas stretcher is fine however, you can still make this frame to give it an upgrade. It’s easy to follow and you can adjust it slightly to make it your own, like wrapping the frame around the front of the canvas to completely hide the edge for example.
Add a coat of paint or stain to finish it off, but remember, if your art or photo is valuable, paint the frame before assembling it, and do touch ups when you are done.
Pallet wood, plywood, construction adhesive, sandpaper, eye hooks, hanging wire, paint or stain
Tools:
Saw
Difficulty Level:
Easy
This DIY canvas frame is perfect for that rustic chic look and can easily be made by pulling apart an old pallet. The tutorial for this plan is intended for a small flat frame, but you can easily adjust it to fit a canvas.
Cut your pieces of pallet wood to sizes and give them some light sanding if they look a bit beat up. You will need a square of thin plywood that is bigger than your canvas, but you can decide how big you want the border. Using construction adhesive, stick the pieces of pallet wood to the plywood, stain or paint it, then position your canvas in the center and stick that down too.
Add some eye hooks on either side and some hanging wire, and your framed canvas is ready to be displayed.
The great part about DIY is that you can simply use a plan for guidance and inspiration and customize it to suit your needs or idea. This DIY frame is a great example. This frame can be used to frame just about anything and can work great to enhance the look of your canvas print.
You can easily DIY this frame using supplies you already have at home and can be put together in under an hour.
If you are familiar with the art of macrame, you understand the many things you can create with it, and a picture frame is one of them. Even if you are unfamiliar with the technique of creatively tying knots, this tutorial is easy to follow if you want to give it a go. The key to creating this unique and creative frame for your canvas is patience.
There are a variety of knots and sequences you can use to macrame the type of frame you desire, and they can include tassels or finished off with knots for a more structured look. When planning your macrame canvas, keep in mind that you may need to cover some of the outer edge of your canvas print, so make sure none of the image will be obstructed. You can also add a wooden frame or border beforehand, so you can glue the macrame design to the wood without obstructing any of the canvas print.
Wood, nails, mosaic tiles or broken glass or mirror, grout, glue
Tools:
Saw, hammer, drill
Difficulty Level:
Easy to moderate
The mosaic design is a great way to reuse broken glass and the finished result is always beautiful, like this creative canvas frame. Using one of our canvas frames plans, first make a canvas frame. Mosaic the wood how you wish, either using broken glass, ceramic, mosaic tiles, or glass stones. You can be as creative and colorful as you want, but make sure it doesn’t steal attention from the image on your canvas.
Our first entry is for turning a digital download into a canvas print frame, but you can easily forego the download and use your own existing canvas. To start, you’ll need a 1×2 (or other thin board), some brads, and staples.
Once you have the materials, all that’s left is to measure your canvas print and cut the thin board for the frame. Hammer in the brads at each end of the boards to secure them in place, then use the staple gun to attach the canvas print to the back.
This is a great way to turn digital art (or any art) into wall-worthy décor! Feel free to adjust the measurements to suit your canvas. The great thing about this beginner-friendly project is that you can customize it as much as you like to accommodate your needs.
Seeing as how these plans show you how to successfully stretch the canvas on a frame, it’s a bit more demanding. Thus, it’s rated for intermediate DIYers. Don’t let that deter you, though, as the pre-cut stretcher bars go together in a snap to form your frame.
If you’re not here for the canvas stretching lesson, you can simply skip that part and go straight for the frame-building session. That part’s as easy as it gets.
But if you want to know how to do everything from start to finish, these plans are for you. Follow the step-by-step instructions to make a custom frame for your canvas artwork. Please note that stretching canvas takes practice to perfect. So, stick with it until you get it.
This massive frame can be used as a traditional picture frame or as a canvas frame. As you can tell by this project’s name, the appealing thing about it is its size. It’s bound to be the focal point of any room you place it in.
But don’t let the size intimidate you. This project is rated at an intermediate difficulty level, yet it won’t take a professional woodworker to build it. With just a few basic tools and supplies, most people can put this oversized canvas frame together.
If you have a large canvas print that you want to show off, this is the perfect project for you. You can even enhance its beauty by adding some decorative molding and putting your own stain or paint on it. With a few finishing touches, your DIY canvas frame will look like it was just taken off an art gallery wall.
Conclusion
No matter what size canvas you are looking to frame, there is a creative way to do it that will save you money and protect and enhance your print. These plans can also be adjusted and customized to suit your piece of artwork or photo. Whatever method you choose, framing your canvas can make all the difference to the image printed or painted on it.
Featured Image Credit: In The Making Studio, Unsplash
Contents
Writer
Pete Ortiz
Pete has been working in the trades since high school, where he first developed a passion for woodworking. Over the years, he has developed a keen interest in a wide variety of DIY projects around the home. Fascinated by all sort of tools, Pete loves reading and writing about all the latest gadgets and accessories that hit the market. His other interests include astronomy, hiking, and fishing.
As the founder of House Grail, Pete's primary goal is to help consumers make educated decisions about DIY projects at home, in the garage, and in the garden.
