Costco Box Art Frame

This Instructable will show you how to construct a frame out of cardboard, specifically, out of the cardboard boxes Costco gives you at check out.

There are 2 parts of the frame that we will deal with one at a time:

1. The background - the back layer of the frame
2. The boarder - the decorative, top layer of the frame

Have fun!

This is a great DIY option to frame your children's artistic creations! They can even help make the frame, but since scissors are involved, children should be monitored during the project. Click here to see how I made the art I'm framing.

Required Materials:

• Costco box (or any cardboard)
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Glue
• Full piece of scratch paper

Optional Materials:

• Binder clip(s)
• String (not pictured)

Prep for cutting

• Decide how wide you want the border of your frame to be. Mine is roughly 3 inches (about the length of my fingers).
• Fold a scratch piece of paper to that width.
• Decide how much of your art you want overlapped by the border of the frame. The border must overlap at least .25 inches so art is secured.
• Dash a line on both ends your scratch paper to indicate your desired amount of overlap. (Mine is about the width of my thumb.)

Prep for cutting, cont.

• Overlap your art to your dashed line.
• Use your scratch paper to pencil in the outline of your background.

Cutting

• Cut along your penciled in outline.
• Try to keep the rest of the box intact.

Gluing

• Center your art on the background. I eye-balled it.
• Use the glue to attach the art on the background.

Prep for cutting

• Use the remaining bottom of the box as well as the sides of the box, which breaks apart, for the boarder.
• Use the entire thickness of your scratch paper to outline multiple sections for frame's border. These can be of any length.

Cutting

• Cut out the outlined sections of the border. Remember these can be of any length.
• Place tiles in desired arrangement on the background.
• Cut the edges of the pieces that meet to form corners at 45 degree angles. I drew a square on the back side of the pieces that meet to form a corner to help me judge a 45 degree angle.

Gluing

• Cut a piece of string twice the length of your frame.
• When border is cut and arranged to your liking, place each end of the string between the background and the boarder. This can be at any distance apart, depending on how you want your art to hang.
• Glue all sections to background. Make sure to glue the string between the background and boarder layers to secure it in place.
• Optional: Use binder clips to secure border when glue is drying.