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6 Creative Old Picture Frame Ideas!

There used to be a time when the sole purpose of a picture frame’s existence was to display, well, pictures. No more! From serving trays, jewelry organizers and chalkboards, these six old picture frame ideas will have you upcycling those photo frames in no time!

I don’t know about you, but I’m terrible at actually printing out any of the thousands of photos I take each year and framing them. There must be others out there like me! We are seeing all kinds of fun, new and practical ways to repurpose and upcycle old/damaged/ugly picture frames that have nothing to do with photos. Here are six of our favourite ideas.

Creative Ways to Use Old Pcture Frames!

Elegant Serving Tray

Source: Lemon Tree Creations

With a bit of hardware and a few special touches a sturdy picture frame can be upcycled to a useful serving tray. This step-by-step tutorial is great and the final result is a gorgeous piece of home decor.

Decorative Wall Art

Source: The Vintage Wren

Broken glass doesn’t have to send the frame to the landfill. This post by The Vintage Wren shows how beautiful frames can be remade into simple and beautiful wall art pieces themselves.

Jewellery Display

Source:  Kevin and Amanda

Who doesn’t need more organizational tools? We love this practical, creative and inexpensive way to reuse an old frame as a functional jewelry display. We wouldn’t mind having her earring collection either!

A Fancy Chalkboard


Source: Confessions of a Serial DIYer

Chalkboard paint is so popular now and very versatile. These upcycled vintage frames are gorgeous when repainted and used as chalk boards. This is a particularly fun idea if you have a frame for which the glass has broken.

Inspiration Board

Source: Design Lively

Although we seem to be on the computer all the time, we love the idea of being able to display inspiration and ideas where they are visible (no offense Pinterest). This helpful tutorial makes it easy to create a beautiful and functional piece for your office.

Christmas Card Display

A couple of years ago we made this simple Christmas card display from baseboards. You can make the same idea with a photo frame! This card display was part of our rustic Christmas mantle which you can see on our YouTube channel.

We love all of these creative and practical ideas for repurposing outdated/damaged/unused picture frames. What other creative ideas have you seen?

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Kevin @ Compressor on Zentiz

Friday 24th of June 2016

The beautiful frame, surely my kids will love it

Sarena

Tuesday 25th of August 2015

Ooh! These are some great ideas. I never thought of making anything out of an old picture frame but now it's started my creative juices going! Thanks for sharing these!

Jane and Sonja

Friday 28th of August 2015

Thank you Sarena! We were pleasantly surprised by the varying ideas also!It's great co-hosting the #HomeMattersParty with you.

Lorelai @ Life With Lorelai

Tuesday 25th of August 2015

WOW! These are all so beautiful! I have a whole bunch of pictures frames...I see projects in my future. :) Thanks for sharing and being a wonderful co-host of the #HomeMattersParty - we love having you on the team! :)

~Lorelai Life With Lorelai

Jane and Sonja

Friday 28th of August 2015

More projects :D ! Just need more time in the day!We are really enjoying our time at the #HomeMattersParty. Thank you for having us as co-hosts!

Mary, Living a Sunshine Life

Saturday 22nd of August 2015

Where was this post a couple of years ago before I got rid of all my old picture frames?! Haha, guess I need to hit up all the garage sales next year ;) I love these ideas! Thanks again for your creatively inspirational post on the Sunshine Life Link Up! Can't wait to see what you have next week!

Jane and Sonja

Friday 28th of August 2015

That happened to us recently: our mom said she threw out all of our seaglass that we had collected over the years as kids and now we're finding so many inspiring projects that we could have used them with!

It's our pleasure to link up at your party. See you again Sunday!

Shann Eva

Saturday 22nd of August 2015

I love these ideas. I don't think I can pick a favorite. The serving tray and jewelry holder are in a tie for me. Thanks for sharing. Great to be part of the #HomeMattersParty with you.

Jane and Sonja

Friday 28th of August 2015

Thank you Shann Eva! We love both as well.

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