Magnetic Fridge Photo Frame

     Have you ever walked by a store window and didn't recognize your reflection for a second? Something similar happened to me this week. I went outside for a minute and when I came back in, I couldn't believe what an out of control mess my kitchen looked like! I grew up with a mom who thought (who'm I kidding, STILL THINKS) every photo, every drawing, coloring sheet, report card, etc. belongs on the fridge. I vowed I'd never do that. My concession was to put them on the side of the fridge. 

     I never know what to do with school wallets and the photos friends and family send of their kids. They're too precious to toss but you can't frame them all...or can you? Sorta.

     I thought maybe if I group them all together in a frame it'd look a bit neater. I couldn't believe how bad it made the whole kitchen look, just having this one surface all messy. The finished frame did exactly what I hoped it would. It still showcases all the pictures we love seeing every day but it a much neater way.

I used mostly things I had on hand from other projects. 

MATERIALS:

4 canvas stretcher frame bars

scrapbook paper

Mod Podge (or white glue & acrylic medium/varnish) *I used the glue/varnish combo because I didn't have any MP handy

glue (I recommend E6000 for this)

4 strong magnets (I used 3/4" round magnets w/a strength rating of 6)

foam brush

scissors

staple gun & staples (optional)

STEP 1--MEASURING, ASSEMBLING THE FRAME

   First things first, measure the spot you want to frame. Round your numbers down to the nearest even number. My area was 26" x 15". So I went with 26" x 14". I bought two 26" stretcher bars and two 14" bars. These are used to stretch canvas for paintings. They sell them in the craft store with the pre-made canvases. They are super duper simple to assemble. They have grooves at the top that fit together. Once you have them together, you may want to grab a level or a T square and true them up to make sure its a real square or rectangle and that it'll lay really flat. I usually pop in a staple at each corner to make sure it doesn't wiggle out of shape, but that's totally up to you.

STEP 2--COVERING THE FRAME

   The first thing I did was cover the corners because I knew they'd be exposed after fitting the paper to the flat sides. I cut about a 2" square of paper and used the white glue to stick it in the corner (left photo). Clip the bend of the paper on each side so you can fold it down to lay flat (right photo).

Here's the finished corner.

   Next, I fitted the sides and glued them down with white glue. Sometimes I painted it on the back of the paper, sometimes I painted it directly on the frame. It really doesn't matter. I chose a paper with a busy pattern that'd hide my edges easily and I knew I wouldn't have to match up exactly. 

 
 As you go along, you'll have to clip edges and trim away the excess. On outside corners I clipped it up to the edge and folded down (left photo). On inside corners I clipped it from the corner and folded down (right photo).

 STEP 3--DECOUPAGE
   After you get all of your frame covered in paper, slap on a nice neat coat of the varnish or Mod Podge. You can see how this makes it shrink up a little and takes out any bubbling the glue may have done. I did a couple coats since this was going in a wet area.

 STEP 4-- APPLYING THE MAGNETS
   Apply a generous dollop of glue (I love the classic, E6000) and press on your magnets into each corner. I know, I know, E6000 is not approved for paper crafts. Before you send out the craft police, bear in mind this is not the same as gluing two pieces of paper together or scrapbooking, is it? It also has a warning label (like most adhesives) so it's not something I'm going to be allowing my child to use. Also, you can tell by the picture I used my scraps to cover the back of the frame too. I just worked piecemeal so it isn't exactly beautiful but I thought it looked better than all the raggedy edges.

Here's the finished product after moving my photos back into their rightful spot. I think it looks great!