How to Cut Your Own Picture Mats

Hello!  Hope you all had a lovely weekend. The Chef and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary yesterday so we went out of town for some alone time. It was divine!  And I got some great photos of the spa I went to, wait until you see it.Today I wanted to share with you a guest post I did at The Shabby Creek Cottage about how to cut your own picture mats. It’s so simple and affordable and the best part is you can customize your own wall hangings to fit your style.

Framing photos and art is one of the most common projects I do. There is a really easy way to cut your own mats, without expensive mat cutter tools. All it takes is a few supplies, some art or a photo to frame and you’ll be creating your own decor in no time! Here’s how to cut your own picture mats.

The supplies you’ll need are:

• Picture frames
• Mat board
• Ruler
• Cutting mat
• Exacto knife
• Pencil
• Tape or hardware for holding the art in the frame

Of course you also need art or photos you’ll put in the frame and the tape is for taping the art inside the frame if you don’t have another way to hold it in.

All of these can be found at craft or art supply stores. I typically get frames at thrift stores and paint them to the color I want. Mat boards will run about $8 for a large piece that you can use many times. I used scraps for this project.

I used a regular exacto knife, found at craft or art supply stores.

You can prepare the frames any way you wish. These were frames I had which I painted white.

First, measure the size your mat will be which is typically the size of the glass in the frame, and the size frame you buy 8×10, 11×14, etc.

Cut the mat size using your exacto knife.  You can score the mat and cut again if that’s easier for you, sometimes the mat boards are thick.

To measure the size of the inside of the mat which will frame your art/photo, get the piece you are framing and place it on top of the mat. For this project I’m using an old calendar which had quotes I liked. They fit well with these frames because they and the frames were both square.

Here you’ll measure the width you’ll want the mat to be around the entire photo/art. For the most part this will be even, for example, you’ll have an inch (or a few) wide mat on all sides. Sometimes it can be different on the top and sides, but that depends on the piece you are framing.

This is the beauty of this project, you can cut the mat to any size.

As you can see above, I needed this mat to be once inch wide on all sides.  Once you have the measurement of the width of the mat, measure the size onto the back of your mat. The lines you draw will be where you cut the mat out.

Cut out your mat using the ruler and exacto being careful not to cut past the lines you have drawn. If you angle the blade it will give you a beveled look like a mat cutter would. Then you’ll be left with this. Cut mats! {That heart shape was the old art inside one of the frames, I just reused the mat.}

After that you can paint or decorate your mats if you’d like. I painted mine blue for this project. Then you tape your art/photo to the back of the mat, making sure your piece is centered in the mat as you want it. I used masking tape for this. Something with a medium tack works well and you can always switch out the art.

Voila! You have some art, all cut and matted by you! This blue was spray painted, it worked well on the mat boards.

Lastly, simply put the mats inside your frame, securing them in as the frame allows. Some have metal pieces you twist or bend down.

If your frame doesn’t have either, you can always tape the piece in like I’ve done here. I’ve found this is the case in art you’ve purchased that is sealed on the back, you have to tape the piece in because there are no metal parts to hold it.

And you are finished!

Find a place to display your handiwork, step back and admire 🙂

Making your own art is simple and easy. Let me know if you try this out, I’d love to see your creations!

Sharing with: Tutorials & Tips Tuesday at Home Stories A 2 Z and Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie and Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now.

Find all of my craft projects here.