We only have so much room on our fridge for the art my kids make me that we HAVE to keep. I wanted a slightly nicer way to display these masterpieces without just tacking them on a corkboard, and those cute little frames you can buy to display kids’ artwork would never be enough, plus you never know the size of paper that’s going to come my way.
But I did have 2 old window frames, so…
Supplies:
(As an advertising affiliate and Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. But it doesn’t cost you anything extra and helps me keep up my site!)
- Window frame (can use craft store window frame with chicken wire removed for smaller frames, or search Etsy for full-sized window frames)
- String
- Staples
- Paperclips
Tools:
- Scissors
- Staple gun
Step 1: Paint or stain the frame. Mine were already painted black, and I thought that would look nice for a distinct frame, so I left them black.
Side note: I know not everyone has spare window frames lying around, but you can buy the same size as mine on Etsy or smaller frames at a craft store – the kind that have chicken wire to clip things onto. If you’re like me and don’t really like the farmhouse-y, chicken wire look, you can snip off the chicken wire and go from there. Or, if you want to be really creative, you can make frames from 1x2s. For my project, I used old window frames all ready to go (like you’d find on Etsy).
Step 2: Cut string. Here’s the thing – I didn’t want to just stick the artwork on the front of the frames because that would hide the frames, and the artwork would flap around from open windows and fall off too easily. So, I wanted the artwork to sit behind the frames and be…well, framed by each section of the frames. This meant I’d need to attach the art papers to the backside of the windows. To do this, I needed something that wouldn’t stick out or keep the window from hanging flat against the wall.
Solution: string, paper clips, and staples, all lying flat against the back of the window so it wouldn’t make the frame stick out or fall off the wall.
Turning the window frames backside-up, I unspooled my string to stretch from one side of the window to the other and cut the string so a little extra would go on either end. I needed 2 strings at roughly the same length for each window.
Step 3: Staple on the string. For the topmost string, I needed to bring it down about a half inch so the hanging screws in the wall would have a place to catch/hold the frame without getting caught on the artwork or string. Starting at one end, I looped the string a bit to add to how it would be held down, and then I stapled the string onto the window frame. Holding that tight all the way across to the other side, I also looped that end and stapled it in place.
To keep the string from sagging, I stapled the string onto the interior divider sections of the frame too.
For the lower section, I ran a string from side to side right along the middle divider. Again, I looped each end to add to the grip of the staples, keeping the string tight across the center. Also again, I kept the string from sagging by stapling the string onto the interior divider sections.
Step 4: Add art papers with paper clips. Lying each piece of art face-down, I arranged one at a time and used paper clips to attach each paper onto the strings. I ended up using 2 paper clips for each paper just because the papers were a bit heavy and I didn’t want them to tilt all crazy.
Step 5: Hang the window frames. I’d already screwed or nailed 2 screws/nails for each window frame, and you just have to be sure they are level and in position to catch the window frames so they hang nicely. Because of that half-inch gap at the tops of my windows, this left plenty of room to hang the windows and see what I was doing without poking into the papers. (Spacing this top string also makes it easier to change out the artwork later, without having to take the whole thing down.)
That was it! I can easily swap these artwork pieces when new artwork comes along by pulling the art off the paper clips and replacing them. I like that they’re secured in place and won’t fall or blow around, and they look nicely framed, kind of like a collage, without needing a dedicated frame for each piece.
DIY Must-Have Lists
