DIY: Driftwood Photo Frames

My fifth wedding anniversary is this weekend, and I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what to get my husband.

Over the summer, we spent a long weekend up in New Hampshire, and on one of those days, we had a fabulous time at Ellacoya State Park on Lake Winnipesauki. While my boys were playing on the beach, I took a walk and collected a pile of drift wood that I thought would be awesome for a craft.

Between the fantastic shots I got that day and this pile of wood, I finally came to the conclusion to make a framed photo to commemorate that wonderful weekend.

On top of this, my husband's office had just gotten remodeled, and it was itching for some personal touches. Hopefully these pictures will fit the bill.

We tend to not throw ANYTHING away these days, and upon rummaging through the garage, I found two planks of plywood 7" x 16" each.

I started to go through all the photos from that day, and cropped a couple that I thought would work. I was limited by time and what my local CVS same-day printer could handle, which meant I could only go as wide as 10".

I took some textured poster board, cut pieces to fully cover the front, then Mod Podged it. I put a top coat of Mod Podge over the poster board, and then added the photo.

Once that was dry, I began applying the drift wood pieces around the plywood. I didn't have any rhyme or reason, just what was pleasing in terms of texture and composition.

With all that wood, the photo became pretty heavy, so I opted to screw in two eye hooks and frame wire to the back for hanging.

The way the wood worked around the frame on this one, it left a pretty obvious space.

So I printed the locale and date on craft paper; then outlined it in twine to maintain that "by the sea" feel.

I ended up having plenty of drift wood to make two frames. The wood pieces I chose for this one filled in the empty space without me having to add a placard. And if the two photos are hung together, there really is no need for two placards.

I'm pretty thrilled with the results and the natural, organic quality.

Plus, as an added bonus, I had no idea that the traditional five-year wedding anniversary gift was wood. So major win for me!









So, all the supplies I had on hand were already in my craft stash from eons ago, or were free on a beach. I only had to pay $7 for the two photo prints. Handmade with meaning...that's what I love!!!

Yankee Doodle Dandy,
–TYG