DIY Wood Clip Frames

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These DIY Wood Clip Frames are a great alternative to standard – and often expensive – picture frames. Plus they’re super easy to make!

Learn how to make DIY wood clip frames to easily display your favorite photos. They make excellent gifts too.

DIY wood clip frames

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Hi everyone – it’s Lori from Greco Design Company here today and I’m excited to show you how to make these rustic, wood clip frames. I’ve made several of these wood clip frames and I have some different versions available for sale in my Etsy shop. But they really are easy to make so I wanted to share the details with you in case you were in the DIY mood. I love the vintage, rustic look and since there’s no glass, they’re great to hang in a kids’ room or playroom without worry.

DIY wood clip frames

how to make dIY wood clip frames

These frames also make great gift ideas. Pick your own paint colors and add a photo for a thoughtful birthday, wedding, or Mother’s/Father’s Day present.

The entire tutorial is in the printable card at the bottom of this post. First, I have some tips about the supplies and some step-by-step pictures for you too.

Supplies

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own wood clip frames:

  • Wood – For the base, I used 1″ thick common board, cut to 10 x 11″. This is a good size to hold a 5″ x 7″ photo. Adjust the size of your boards depending on the size of your photos or artwork.
  • Plywood – For the top pieces, I used 1/4″ plywood, cut to 8-1/2″ x 9-1/2″
  • Mini bulldog clips – I found some vintage looking colorful ones at a thrift store. But you can get similar ones here.
  • Saw – I just used a hand saw and it works fine for this project. If you don’t have a saw, most home supply stores will cut wood for you.
  • Wood glue & tack nails
  • Super glue – I used Loctite Super Glue Liquid
  • Paint/stain
  • Minwax water based polyurethane
  • Sandpaper (I used 120-grit) and/or electric sander

DIY wood clip frames tips

Here are my step-by-step pictures. Follow along and make your own.

wood for DIY wood clip frames

Cut your wood

First, cut your pieces of wood to the size you want. You can adjust this to be as large or as small as you need it to be.

DIY wood clip frames

sand the boards

Next, I used my electric sander to sand the boards and give the edges a rounded, more worn look.

painting wood for DIY wood clip frames

paint or stain your wood pieces

I used 2 coats of acrylic paint on each. The larger board was painted Behr Antique Tin and the plywood was painted Behr White. Since I wanted an aged look, I added some additional, random paint colors to the top board.

I think this makes the piece look better and tie in with the colors of the clips. I also added some white paint on the gray to relate it to the top piece. Don’t worry about adding too much paint, we’ll be sanding these again and will remove a lot of it.

distressing wood for DIY wood clip frames
distressing wood for DIY wood clip frames

Distress the wood

Once the paint dried, I sanded the pieces again to distress the wood. As you can see, the before and after boards look so different. I really like some of the wood showing through and also the paint colors to be more subtle.

constructing DIY wood clip frames

put it on the wood backing

Now you can attach the plywood to the wood backing. I used wood glue on the back of the plywood.

distressed wood for DIY wood clip frames

Then I added a nail in each corner. I know you don’t really need both, but I just feel better with extra support.

Add protective finish

Let the glue dry. Paint a coat of polyeuthraine on the entire piece and let dry. I used an acrylic based poly because it doesn’t have a yellow tint as the oil-based ones do, plus it dries much faster.

colorful clips for DIY wood clip frames

Add the clips

Add your clip. I love these rustic clips and the colors are so cute.

Loctite super glue liquid for DIY wood clip frames

I used just a drop of Super Glue Liquid on the back of each clip to attach them to the top center of the frames. It dries in minutes too.

Now you have really chic and vintage looking wood clip frames that can easily display your photos or artwork.

DIY Wood Clip Frame

These DIY Wood Clip Frames are a great alternative to standard – and often expensive – picture frames. Plus they’re super easy to make!
Prep Time5 minutes
Work Time30 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Keyword: DIY Wood Clip Frame
Author: Lori Greco
Cost: $15

Equipment

  • Hand saw
  • Wood glue
  • Tack nails
  • Loctite Super Glue Liquid
  • Minwax water-based polyurethane
  • Electric sander

Supplies

  • 1 common board 1-inch thick cut 10 inches by 11 inches
  • 1 plywood 1/4-inch plywood cut 8.5 inches by 9.5 inches
  • 2 mini bulldog clips

Instructions

  • First, cut your pieces of wood to the size you want. Since I wanted mine to hold 5″ x 7″ photos, I cut my common board wood to be 10″ x 11″ and my plywood to be 8-1/2″ x 9-1/2.”
  • Next, I used my electric sander to sand the boards and give the edges a rounded, more worn look.
  • Paint or stain your wood pieces. I used 2 coats of acrylic paint on each. The larger board was painted Behr Antique Tin and the plywood was painted Behr White. Since I wanted an aged look, I added some additional, random paint colors to the top board.
  • Once the paint dried, sand the pieces again to distress the wood.
  • Attach the plywood to the wood backing. Use wood glue on the back of the plywood and add a nail to each corner.
  • Let the glue dry. Paint a coat of polyeuthraine on the entire piece and let dry.
  • Add your clips to the frames.
  • Hang up the frames!
Did you follow these steps?Tag us on Instagram at @kenarryideas or leave us a comment rating below.

Hang up your DIY wood clip frames

To hang mine, I stapled some ribbon to the back of each frame and hung them from my hooks. You could also attach a saw tooth hanger to the back and hang simply on a nail.

I hope you love them!  This is a crazy simple project that adds lots of fun to any wall… And, you can easily change out the pictures. Easy peasy!

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