DIY Picture Frame Bookends

If you are here from Kristen Duke’s Decorating with Pictures series then WELCOME!  Oh, and a big WECLOME to the rest of you, of course, as well.  🙂   Today I am sharing how to make these fun DIY Picture Frame Bookends.  I’ve been thinking about doing something like this for a while so I am glad I finally got around to figuring out how & I am loving how they turned out!   Here is a little step-by-step on how you can make a set for yourself (or grandparents!…they LOVE this kind of stuff):

STEP ONE: Get your hands on some shadowbox-type picture frames.  These are some 5×7 sized ones I found a Hobby Lobby for about $5 each.  We aren’t going to use them as shadowboxes but we need some width to them.

STEP TWO:  Remove frame backing and glass and paint your frames whatever color you’d like.  I used some basic craft paint in Desert Turquoise.

STEP THREE:  Using wood glue, attach a small piece of wood/MDF to the bottom of the frame for stability.  These were pieces I had out in my garage and are about 2″ wide.

STEP FOUR: Paint attached pieces of wood.  Then distress paint, if desired (I definitely desired) and give your frames a good coat of Mod Podge to seal them.  This isn’t totally necessary, of course, but I like the finished look of a coat of Mod Podge.

STEP FIVE:  Put the glass back in your frame and add your photo.  Now the trick with bookends is, to do their job,  they either need to have some leverage or some weight.  These frames have zero leverage so I needed to figure out how to add some weight.  I decided to fill the backs of my frames (this is why we needed shadowboxes) with those glass pebbles people use in floral arranging.  These added just enough weight to give these babies some fortitude here.

STEP SIX:  Put your frame backing back on and then start using them to hold up some dang books!

A big thank you to Kristen for inviting me to be a part of this awesome Decorating with Pictures series!  She has guest posts going twice a day all month long as well as giveaways galore!  Be sure to stop by and see the rest of the amazing ideas from 50+ other bloggers!