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Floating Acrylic Frame DIY

How to make an affordable, modern acrylic photo frame
Keyword crafts, diy project, photo frame

Equipment

  • printer I used my Canon PIXMA iP8720 Crafting Printer
  • printer paper
  • drill
  • Screwdriver
  • painters tape

Ingredients

  • 1 piece of acrylic a few inches bigger than your photo You can get this at most home improvement stores, and they will cut it to size for you.
  • standoff mounting hardware
  • screws to mount hardware Remember that the screw head has to be big enough to fit inside the hardware tube that attaches to the wall, so take the hardware with you when you go to buy screws.
  • gold spray paint
  • glue dots

Instructions

  • Print your photo. Like I was saying before, I used the PIXMA iP8720 printer and 13×19 inch Luster paper. If you’re using a Canon PIXMA printer, you can just set the print to be borderless in the print setup screen on your computer so you don’t have to trim off any white edges. 
  • Cover the corners of your acrylic, front and back, with painter’s tape. Mark on top of the tape where you want the holes to go. Use a small drill bit to drill a hole into the acrylic (keep a piece of scrap wood under the sheet to protect your surface).
    To drill into acrylic, it’s best to drill a little bit into the acrylic to get the hole started, but then switch the drill into reverse and press down with pressure to complete the hole.
    You’re trying to avoid cracking the acrylic, so going backwards and basically melting through the sheet is the best way to go.
    Keep switching to bigger and bigger bits until you have the right hole size drilled for your hardware. Remove the tape and the protective film from your sheet. 
  • Use glue dots to attach your photo face down onto the acrylic. Hold your photo and center it on the wall where you want to hang the frame.
    Mark where each hole should be drilled (try and be really precise, there’s not a whole lot of wiggle room if the holes are really off), and pre-drill each hole with a small drill bit.
    Paint your mounting hardware gold and let it completely dry. Mount the tube part of the mounting hardware into your predrilled holes with a screw and screwdriver.
    Line up the holes of your frame with the hardware and screw in the front screws to secure the acrylic in place.