Good news everyone! Popsicle stick picture frames aren’t just for little kids to make anymore. This easy to make popsicle stick frame is a step above the one you made in kindergarten and can give any photo a great new home!

To start making your popsicle stick photo frame, you will need:

To make this frame, first cut out the cardboard backing. I measured the size of the photo and added the thickness of three popsicle sticks to each side before cutting out the square that will hold the photo I picked. The great thing about this method is that you can make this frame to fit any size photo that you have.

Now, to separate this popsicle stick frame from the ones we all made as kids the popsicle sticks need to lose their signature quality. That’s right, we need to cut the rounded ends off the popsicle sticks.

I used a pair of scissors to do this which worked, but be warned it will dull your scissors and could possibly give you a terrible blister on your finger. I would suggest using a more appropriate wood cutting tool if you have one, but like I said the scissors worked just fine for me.

Once you have cut a fair amount of popsicle sticks it is time to start hot gluing them onto the cardboard backing. Start by gluing down your rows on the left and right sides first, and then piece in the rows along the top and bottom next. This will ensure that your rows are even and don’t overlap into each other.

To make the whole frame look more rustic and less uniform like the popsicle stick frames we are used to seeing, the wood pieces need to be scattered. When gluing down the pieces make sure that none of the seams where you match up the wood ends are in line with each other. This is going to mean cutting some sticks smaller to fit into spaces along the frame. You can see the way I randomly aligned the pieces as I went in the photo below. I really just cut and made up sizes as I went as long as the ends weren’t matching up.

Another way to give this frame a more sophisticated look is give it a light stain. Now you can use actual wood stain if you have it, but if you don’t and don’t want to buy any, a tea stain works perfectly. The tea stain is a nice subtle stain that only needs a few applications to give the perfect color. For this frame I used an Earl Grey tea for three or four full coats, really rubbing the tea into the gaps at times.

The reason I do the tea stain after gluing the sticks down and not before is because I like the look of getting some of the stain and actual tea pieces between the cracks in the wood. If preferred, you could stain the popsicle sticks first and then cut and glue them down.

After the stain has dried it’s time to make the legs. To do this, cut two popsicle sticks on angles so that when one edge in on a surface the other edge can support the frame at the angle you like best.

Hot glue the legs onto the back of the cardboard piece equal distances apart from the edges. I made mine about an inch away from each edge.

And once they are on and supporting the frame’s weight all you have to do is pop your photo into the center (use double stick tape if needed) and this frame is ready for display!