I framed these for a good client of mine. She wanted to use a frame she had on hand. It was an inexpensive frame from the 90's that came with three matt board window openings. The plexiglass is thin.
My only regret is not putting in real glass. My local hardware store is no more, they were the best and reasonable priced for custom glass cuts. I get my matt board for free at the local frame store. The keep a bin of off cuts. These are great for all sorts of projects and FREEEEE!
The finished piece. These are my original watercolor paintings, each 5x7 on cold press 140lb watercolor paper. Do check out my website for lots more art
AmeenDhillon.com. Original artwork, especially if the paper has a deckle or torn edge looks beautiful mounted in a shadow box style frame where the artwork is raised slightly to appear to float within the frame.
Gather your materials and stretch them out on a clean table. Ruler, pencil, white plastic erasure, acid free tape, hot glue gun, white matt board that matches or compliments the artwork, acid free foam core pieces cut to slightly smaller than the artwork.
Coil the tape and put it the 4 corners of the foam core. Center your artwork and gently add pressure so that it sticks. Keep a clean piece of paper on top of the artwork and gently burnish the taped areas with your hand. This keeps the oils and any dirt from you hands from getting on the art. Mount all three paintings and set aside.
I replaced the original backing with sturdy matt board making sure it was larger than the opening so that it would attach across the back of the frame. Measure and place the paintings keeping an equal space at the top, bottom and sides. paces between the paintings should be slightly less. I left 1 1/4 inches around the edges. I put very light pencil marks in the bottom corners only. Put coiled tape on the back of the foam core squares and attach to the matt board. After they are mounted and the measurements look good erase your pencil marks. Now let's put it all together, hot glue the plexi glass to the inside of the frame. Attach the matt board to the back of the frame, before securing it in place check for dust, debree and fingerprints within the frame. Attach the matt board to the back of the frame, I used the existing clips and a staple gun for the side without clips.
For light frames I attach fishing line with a staple gun and knot it in place for hanging.
