Easy DIY Scrap Wood Hinged Picture Frame
I love finding unique ways to showcase some of our photos, like these unusual curly whirly jewelry wire frames. They were so much fun to make and this easy yardstick photo display idea. But I’m over the moon with how our hinged picture frame turned out.
It looks so pretty on the shelf and folds open and closed
The tabletop frame only took about 30 minutes to put together. I think I’ll make a few more as Christmas gifts for the special people in our lives? Right, before we get to the good stuff, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram. And don’t forget to subscribe so you’ll never miss a post!
What you need to make the scrap wood picture frame
For this project, you’ll need scrap bits of wood roughly the same thickness. Lucky for us we have a big pile of pallet wood that we salvaged so I just dug through that. Don’t you just love how versatile pallets are?
You’ll also need:
- 2 small hinges and wood screws
- Wooden skewers or dowels
- Drill and saw
- Sandpaper – 80 grit, 100 grit, and 120 grit
- Wood glue
- Craft paint and stencils (optional)
How to make a hinged picture frame from scrap wood
Figure out how big you want each hinged panel of your picture frame to be. The two panels that make up our “frames” measures 24 cm x 20 cm (about 9.5” x 8”). From my experience, most pallets tend to be full of splinters and they’re rough sawn and filled with dings and dangs. It’s one of the downsides of using free wood, so I had to sand them first, before cutting them to size.
The other problem with pallet wood is that the planks are usually only around 9cm wide (3 ½”) so you need to join them side-by-side to form the panels that make up the tabletop frame. And since I wanted the hinged picture frame to look good inside and out, I had to use butt joints.
Butt joints are probably the weakest kind of joins, so I reinforced the join with dowels. Well actually they’re skewers with their tips cut off, but hey who cares, they will still work?
How to make a butt joint without a jig
When reinforcing butt joints the key to success is making sure that the drilled holes in the side-by-side pieces link up precisely. I don’t have jigs or any of that fancy stuff so I used this easy trick to make sure those holes are in exactly the right place.
Drill two small holes and insert nails. Hilti nails are great since they don’t have a head. If you don’t have any Hilti’s, just cut the head off an ordinary nail with side cutters.
Line up the pieces you’d like to join and press them together firmly.
The nails make small indents that show you exactly where to drill 😉
Use a drill bit that’s the same size as your dowels and drill a hole on the mark made by the nail head. .
Insert the skewer and trim to fit.
Add a little glue in the holes, insert the dowels, and join the two pieces together.
Clamp and wait for the glue to dry.
And that’s it. Easy right!?
Finishing off the hinged picture frame
Almost done 😉 Once the glue is completely dry we can screw on the hinges between the two panels and decorate the inside and outside of the frame. I used a mandala stencil for the outside and a squiggly text for the inside.
Add a special quote or your favorite photos and you’re done.
To attach two of my favorite pics of our kids on either side of the frame, I just used washi tape.
If taping pictures down isn’t your thing, you can add a piece of string on each panel, and peg your pics on instead. And when the frame is not being used, I can just fold it up and still use it in our decor.
The scrap wood picture frame would make a lovely gift too. And you don’t even need to wrap it. Just tie a pretty ribbon or strings around it and you’re good to go.
If you like the idea of making a hinged picture frame, don’t forget to pin it for later.
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And if you prefer to buy rather than DIY, then maybe these beauties will appeal.
And as always, wishing you a wonderful, crafty week filled with lots of love. Thank you for popping in for a visit.
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Thanks so much, David
This is a lovely idea to hinge pictures on the wall. Thanks for sharing such amazing post.
You’re welcome, George
I love the rustic hinged frame! Easy to make a rustic like I like. Can place anywhere since it folds out and it’s free standing.
I think that’s what I love about the hinged picture frame too. That rustic foldability 😉
Oh my gosh, Michelle. This is a-ma-zing. I absolutely love it. I, too, love picture frames and being able to display photos in a unique way, and this is just perfection. I’m off to make one for myself! Gorgeous photos, btw. 🙂
Thanks so much, Amy. The little hinged photo frame really does add something special to our decor and I love how easy it was to make. Have fun making yours.
Cute idea! Love the rustic wood and the subtle stencil. ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you, Lisa. The aged wood grain was so pretty on these pallet bits, it felt wrong adding something that would compete.
Great tutorial Michelle! Love your pretty frame!
Thank you Kristi, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out too
Such a unique and creative idea! I can see this in any style home. Great for an office, too. Thanks for he tutorial.
You’re welcome, Meegan. Glad you enjoyed it
Michelle this is unique. I love pieces created out of nature and your children’s photos are precious ?
❤️ Thank you Deana
What a pretty frame. Love the natural wood and hinges! The stencil is perfect too!
Thanks so much, Kim. Natural wood seems to create such a lovely backdrop to almost anything and we’re fortunate to have such a big stockpile of pallets to play around with
So cute. I’ve made a few simple frames like this, but not as fancy and pretty as yours. Love them.
They come in so handy 😉
Oh, how lovely. We think alike. I was just looking for stenciling on burlap. Love everything here. love the picture frame.
🙂 I found those burlap stenciled placemats at our version of the dollar store here in South Africa and couldn’t resist adding them to our wall decor.
Great tutorial for a fun photo display!
Glad you liked it Linda, thank you
Love the white washed wood, Michelle! Great directions as usual! You have a pretty special “heart and soul” as well!!
Thank you, Lori and yes, my heart and soul are really special. I miss them so much.
Love that trick; I’ll have to remember that! Such a pretty project on the outside – and so adorable on the inside 🙂
It’s the easiest, and cheapest way to create a butt joint when you don’t have any fancy stuff 😉
This is really special Michelle. I love the rustic look you gave the wood. And am really impressed with the dowel trick I have never seen that going all the way through, very clever.
The dowel trick works every time. It’s so much easier than measuring, adjusting and then messing up 😀