DIY Halloween Picture Frame and Spooky Free Printables
This easy and quick Halloween DIY is the perfect way to add spooky Halloween decor to your home. You can place them anywhere in your home where you would typically place a picture frame, the mantel, the dresser, on the corner of a tray on a buffet, and so forth. It’s a fun way to add inexpensive Halloween decorations. You can make your Halloween picture frames either subtle goth and mature, or funny spooky for children. This Halloween diy has two parts, painting frames, and finding and printing images for them. I have you covered on both. Let’s start with the harder part – finding images.
I have included several images I find online through public domain links. They are already prepared for you in 8 by 10 and 5 by 7 sizes.
Here is the link to the Halloween printables I sized for you. In addition, I have included the citations with the webpage links for all the original resources. There are many other examples on these library web pages.
Here is the link to the free witch printables I used in my Halloween frames DIY.
If you want something different, another great resource is the Graphics Fairy, she shares many different images you can use for free. She shares a post of 400 Free Vintage Halloween Images, you can choose from. Or you can search for a particular topic you’re looking for to see what she has.
Another idea is to use pictures of your kids in their Halloween costumes. I love this idea in black and white.
Printing the Images
Although the images may look black and white, they do have faded color in them, I suggest printing in color. The free printable images are in PNG format so you can print for better quality. You can use photo paper for a better-quality image, but I printed mine on plain printer paper. The plain paper is cheaper and I like the matt look the paper provides.
Print the image out in the size you need. My printer has three settings. Quality I chose normal, Page size I chose letter, and image size 5 by 7.
Trimming to Size
Once the image is printed cover it with a glass from the frame and check the border. Two of mine were exactly right. For the third oval frame, I centered the frame glass over the image so I could get all the cats. Then, I traced around the glass with a pencil and cut the image out.
Place your image in the center of the frame, as is. If the frame is loose and allow the image to move around, add a piece of craft paper behind it, or attach it to the back of the frame with some double-sided tape. If your frame has a snug fit, you may be able to skip this step.
Preparing the Halloween Frame DIY
You can purchase an old photo frame from either the thrift store or new frames from Dollar Tree. Mine are all old frames as I thought the embellishments look vintage.
Remove both the glass and the back of the frame, and give everything a wash with a damp rag. Dry well.
For a more spooky goth look, I suggest painting the empty frame in black or soft grey. Black is the easiest to match with any image you use, vintage-looking photos can be almost brown, and the black paint makes them stand out better.
Cover your work surface with newspaper or plastic to protect and give your entire frame two coats of Fusion Coal Black mineral paint. You can also just spray paint it with mat black. If you already own black acrylic paint or chalkboard paint, that works as well.
Decorating the Easy Halloween Picture Frame
You can decorate either the frame itself or the scene you place the frames in. You can hot glue a plastic spider and a spider web to the corner of a spooky frame, or add sparkly glitter and googly eyes to a kid’s frame.
My frames were placed together on an antique cabinet I have in the living room. I then added a spooky sparkling tree, a sparkling crow on a pumpkin, and a vintage wood snake toy I tied with a black ribbon to make it a pet.
I hope you have as much fun making this Halloween picture frame diy as I did creating it. The final look is cohesive and classic, instead of garish or scary.
Other Halloween DIY Posts to Try
Outdoor Halloween Frog that Lights Up