Easy DIY Disney Character Frames

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I am so happy that my family’s Disneyland vacation coming up in a few weeks. In case you missed it, my family took a year off from Disney for a year. (Read about our reasons why HERE) but it actually was more like 18 months since our last vacation. Are we glad we did it? I wrote some thoughts about half way through the 18 months (Check them out HERE). One thing I noticed while  getting excited for our trip is we really don’t have any pictures of the twins with the characters, even though they have been 2 times (at 3 months and 6 months). I told my husband we have to change that and take new character pictures to put our super cute DIY Disney Character Frames. Because of this, I thought now was a good time to revisit our post on how to make these cute frames. I hope you enjoy!

With our trip coming up, I decided I wanted to do something with some of the photos we have from previous trips. I have some character photos that I love, and so I decided it was time to display them around the house in some easy DIY Disney character frames.

I received frames from Oriental Trading Company* and they are perfect for this type of project. These small ones come in a box of 12 and work great for displaying on a shelf or desk. I also used a few of these larger ones for some of my favorite character pictures.  Other than frames, the only other supplies I used were paint brushes, paints, and masking tape…yep, you read that right. Masking tape. But I suggest you use painters tape. More on my masking tape choice later…

Pick out colors of paint that match your character. You don’t have to get all the colors in there, but just the general color scheme that each character uses.

So, my little disclaimer before I continue… I am not a perfectionist. Not at all. On top of that, I am not a patient person. When I get an idea for a craft, I like to get it done. If that means winging it because I am short certain supplies, then yeah, I will use masking tape instead of painters tape. Why? Because I want to get my wonderful masterpiece done so I can enjoy it, and a trip to the store to get the “proper” tape does not let that happen.

Okay, back to the tutorial. Paint on the lightest color you need to use first. If that is white, yellow, green, whatever it is, start with the lightest color.

Usually I paint the entire frame but in the case of the big one, I knew the entire bottom part would be a darker green, so I figured, why waste paint.

Once you have that light color done, and it has dried (oh, I hate having to let it dry) then use your masking painters tape to mark off areas to place other colors that represent the character. Then paint it in.

For most frames I do my lines straight across but for our Buzz Lightyear frame I decided to do it angled like it is on him. Once that paint is dry, add a second coat if needed, and then you can remove your tape. Hopefully your lines look nice and clean.

 

After that, you can add more stripes of colors if needed. You can also add little details to make the frame more interesting. One thing I really wanted to do was put honey pots on my Winnie the Pooh frame. Only problem- I am an awful artist, and drawing a small honey pot was not happening. I tried, it looked awful. I had to toss that frame and start over. Solution? I used candle cups found at the craft store. I painted them to look like honey pots and glued them to the frame.

After everything dries you are ready to print your photos and put them in and proudly display your Disney memories.

We absolutely love showing off our best character pictures in our home!

Which frame is your favorite?

This post originally posted on June 16, 2015.