Hack Photo

Gallery Wraps are a very popular way to mount photographs. Problem is they are usually very expensive, and most places don’t print them smaller than 8×10. I wanted a series of gallery wraps on my wall, but with smaller images.

Materials
5×7 box frame – I got mine for $3 at Hobby Lobby.

Inkjet Canvas Cloth – Office Depot, about 10 bucks

Straight Edge
x-Acto knife
Sharpie marker
Pencil
Fabric glue
Cutting Board

The Print
The frame is for a 5×7 print, but we need enough on the sides to wrap around. The first one of these I did I measure out exactly and printed a 9.75 x 7.75 print, but wound up a little short on the top and bottom edges. So for this one I printed it 10 x 8 to make it go all the way around it it ended up almost perfect.

Finding Centers
Before we start cutting and gluing we need to find the center of the frame and print to make lining them up easier. The easiest way to do this is to take your straight edge and run it from one corner diagonal to the other and make a line about halfway across. Switch the straight edge to the other diagonal and make another line. Where these two lines intersect is the center.

You’ll need a center cross on the back of the print and on the frame. Don’t worry, neither mark will be visible on the finished frame.

Your cross will look like this.

Repeat on the back of the print.

Lining up the print and frame
Now it’s pretty easy to get them aligned. With the print face down put the frame on top and trace around the frame and you’ll get this on the back of your print.

A few cuts
You need to make 4 cuts to allow your print to wrap around the frame. Mine are parallel to the long side because it’s a vertical picture and I wanted the print to wrap on the top and bottom. If the print had been horizontal I would have cut the other direction.

The cuts will be in line with the vertical edges from the edge of the image to the lines.

Gluing the front
Lay a thin layer of craft glue onto the fabric within the box you traced and place the frame on top, being careful to line up the crosses. The open side of the frame should be up.

Gluing the sides
Next spread a thin layer of glue along one of the long sides and fold it up onto the frame. Hold it in place for a few seconds until the glue sets. Repeat on the other side.

Take the two small flaps left from your cuts and glue them to the top of the frame. These will be hidden in the final project.

Lay a thin layer of glue on the remaining sides and fold them over the flaps you just glued down.

Trimming the edges
Your edges will probably go a little beyond the back edges of your plastic frame. Simply take your x-Acto and trim using the plastic as a guide.

And we’re done
This is the one I did yesterday, but it’s the same idea.