Mini Vintage Frame Supply List
Hello! This blog features instructions, as well as the supply list of everything I used to create these mini vintage frames out of hot glue. This article contains shoppable affiliate links that allow me to earn commissions on qualifying purchases - all of the items you see with links are items I have personally purchased and used myself. Make sure to scroll to the bottom so you don’t miss the step by step instructions and tips I have for making this craft! Due to harmful VOC fumes from the paint and the use of a hot glue gun, adult supervision is required for this craft to ensure proper safety and ventilation
Supply List
1. Silicone Frame Molds
The first thing you’re going to need for this craft is a silicone miniature frame mold. These are the ones I decided to go with, and the reason I chose this set in particular was because the size of the rectangle was slightly larger than some other versions available online. In my opinion the round mirror molds in this set are a bit small but they work just as well as the larger one, and the rectangle frame mold is a great size for the miniature paintings I make!
2. Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue
The next thing you’re going to need for this craft is hot glue and a hot glue gun. I used a mini glue gun which took a bit of time, so I might try a larger one next time. But it took 7 of the 0.27”x4” mini glue sticks to fill the rectangle frame mold!
3. Xacto Knife
Once your hot glue frame has cooled and you carefully remove it from your silicone mold, you will most likely need an Xacto knife to touch up the edges and cut off any areas where the glue spilled over or dried stringy. It helps to flip your frame around a few times to see what areas need touched up, and make sure to be careful when you’re using your craft knife because they are super sharp!
4. FolkArt Liquid Leaf Classic Gold Paint
After touching up the edges of my frame, I used this liquid leaf gold paint by FolkArt to get that classic, golden touch. This paint is very stinky, so make sure to use it outdoors or in a very well ventilated area to prevent breathing in the fumes! The smell is comparable to spray paint, perhaps even stronger, so definitely something you won’t want to be using indoors!
5. Cheap Paint Brushes
The liquid leaf paint is a solvent/oil based, highly pigmented metallic product that’s designed to dry very fast, leaving behind a permanent metallic finish that can quickly turn bristles into stiff, unusable plastic if not cleaned immediately with the correct solvent. For this reason, I recommend purchasing some cheap craft paint brushes that you can use for this paint only or toss out when you’re done! To clean this paint off of your brush, I recommend soaking the bristles in acetone or paint thinner, but make sure your brush is the appropriate material to withstand these chemicals!
6. Acrylic Paint
If you plan to use these frames for miniature paintings like I do, you’re going to need some paint. Any soft or hard bodied acrylic paint will do—you could even just a frame a drawing if you want to! When using acrylic paint, I always paint a layer of white on my cardboard first before painting anything else so that my colors really ‘pop’. If you’re interested in a set of paint with a good color variety, check out the link below!
7. Cardboard
Last but not least, if you plan to use these frames for miniature paintings or drawings, you will need something to paint on and glue to the back. I like making cardboard cutouts out of recycled materials because I can paint directly on them, and then the cardboard is firm enough to make a very nice backing for my frame at the same time! If I ever framed a miniature drawing that was on paper, for example, I would probably glue it to one of these cardboard pieces and then glue the whole thing to my miniature frame!
Instructions:
1. Make sure your silicone mold is nice and clean
2. Fill mold with hot glue. This will take a while - pay attention to the details of your frame mold and make sure to get that glue down in all those crevices. I do this by periodically sticking the tip of my glue gun into the glue I’ve already put in the mold to get rid of air bubbles, but be careful not to touch the hot tip of the glue to the silicone mold for too long to prevent the mold from sticking or melting!
3. Once the mold is filled, I sometimes likes to go around and add one more layer of glue to the top in case the backside looks super uneven - no matter what, the back will look slightly uneven since we’re using such a fast cooling glue, but most of the back ends up being covered by the cardboard painting once I glue it on!
4. Once your hot glue frame has completely cooled, carefully remove it from the silicone frame
5. Use a craft knife - with caution - to trim up the edges of your frame where the hot glue ran over the edges of the mold or appears stringy. Often times I use my fingers to help pull these stringy areas up as I make my way around the edges
6. Outside or in a well ventilated area, use the liquid leaf classic gold paint to paint your frame. This paint dries quickly and is very harsh on bristles so I recommend using a cheap paint brush you can toss afterwards! If you want to clean your brush, try soaking in acetone or paint thinner when you’re done - even then, you might not be able to get the bristles to return to normal
7. To create the cardboard backings that I use for these frames, I trace the inside of the frame on a scrap piece of cardboard, and then I cut about half a centimeter larger around the area that I traced. Where I traced will be where I paint my art directly on the cardboard, and then cutting it larger than that size will give me just enough extra room around the edges to glue the piece of cardboard to my frame
8. Glue your painting or drawing to your frame by applying glue either to the edges on the painting side of your cardboard, or to edges of the back of your frame. Stick the cardboard painting to the back of the frame
Personally, I plan to stick some magnets to the back of my mini paintings and frame so that I can put them on my refrigerator! Another fun idea would be to use these miniature framed painting in a dollhouse or other miniature displays. I might even play around with the magnets by sticking one in a doll house and seeing if I can swap different paintings out from time to time!
I hope you enjoyed reading this blog and have fun giving this craft a try! thank you for stopping by!