Everyone has a stack of those mini-pictures from family portrait or school photo packages. Using just the drillpress, bandsaw or scrollsaw, rare-earth magnets and some shop scraps, you can make these mini-picture frames to hold all your wallet-sized portrait photos. The frames can be stuck on a fridge or a magnetic message board. My designs are fun and easy to make—you can even get the stars of those school pictures to help you out in the shop.
Almost any piece of scrap wood will do, and you can even use slices of a tree branch. Pick any fun shape you like—hearts, Xs and Os, rectangles, ovals or teddy bears.
Fast frame
Begin by creating a paper template for your shape and attach it to 1⁄2"-thick stock with spray adhesive. You can draw shapes freehand or print off templates using different fonts in your word-processing program. Follow the template and cut out your shape on a bandsaw, then peel off the remaining paper.
Once you have an assortment of shapes cut out, it’s time to make them into frames. All of the mini-pictures I had were between 1" and 1 1⁄4" wide, so I sized the opening for a 1 1⁄8"-wide image. If your pictures are significantly larger or smaller, adjust the sizes of the openings to suit.
Mark the centre of your shape on the back. Clamp the wood to the drillpress table for safety. Drill a 1 1⁄8"-diameter hole 5⁄16" deep with a Forstner bit. Change over to a 1"-diameter bit and continue the hole the rest of the way through from the front to make the opening for the picture. To prevent tearout, use a backer board where the bit exits the face.
This process creates a 1" opening in the front, with a 1⁄16" lip for the picture to rest against.
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