Hashtag Frame from a Walnut Hollow Rustic Frame

A fun Summer camp craft is this painted hashtag frame. If you have tweens or teens at home, no doubt they spend some time on Instagram! And of course, so do we adults too, right? (Be sure to follow Walnut Hollow on Instagram.) This craft lets your kids express themselves with their favorite hashtag words, making each frame unique.

This is the perfect Summer camp project because not many supplies are needed. Plus – what I especially love – is that both the frame and the paints are made in the USA! I love supporting American companies, and love teaching kids about the importance of American companies too.

Supplies:

• Rustic Frame from Walnut Hollow
• Chalky Finish paints from DecoArt (I used Refreshing (mint) and Rustic (brown))
• Plastic or paper plate
• Paint brush
• Paper towels
• Wax paper
• Stickers
• cardboard
• washi tape
• favorite Instagram photo

See why I call this rustic frame a Hashtag Frame? 🙂

This frame measures 14 inches x 14 inches which is a nice size for an enlarged Instagram photo!

Step One: Paint the frame with one coat of your chosen base color and let dry. I used a pretty mint color as my base.

Step Two: Dry brush your second color on top of the base color.

First, load a small amount of paint onto the tip of your paint brush.

Wipe most of the paint onto a paper towel, leaving very little paint on the bristles of the brush. (You can test this out on a blank paper towel, to get the feel of how little paint is necessary.)

Holding the brush almost horizontal, very lightly drag the paint brush tip over the painted wood. You will see a light amount of your dry brush color. This is what you want. Start with a light amount of paint, and go over each area until you’re happy with how it looks. You can stick with a light look or go for a more distressed look.

Step Three: Add some additional paint on the ends of each piece of wood for a distressed, weathered look. Add a tiny amount of paint to the tip of your brush (as before), and begin to add color to the edges. As you did in Step Two, build the color up starting with a light touch first.

Step Four: Add a distressed look to all edges of the frame. Use the same process you did in Step Three, only this time lightly tap and brush the bristles against the edges, holding the brush at an angle, as shown below.

Step Five: Paint the sides of the frame with your second color.

Load your brush a tiny bit more than in previous steps, and brush on the color. To keep a distressed look, leave some of the base color showing through here and there.

Take your time when doing the longer sides (edges) of the frame and remember that a little paint goes a long way.

Optional step for the back of the frame: You can either leave the back of the hashtag frame as is (on the left, below) or lightly dry brush your top color onto the back of the frame as well (on the right, below).

What’s a hashtag frame without some familiar hashtag words, right?

Step Six: Choose your favorite hashtag words and add them onto the frame using adhesive-backed alphabet stickers. I chose shiny gold letters to add some zing to this frame. If your letter stickers don’t hold very well, add a small bit of glue to the backs then press down firmly.

Step Seven: Add a photo to the frame. Print out your favorite Summer memory, trim a bit larger than the opening. Attach the photo to some cardboard, and use washi tape to secure the cardboard to the back of the frame. This will make it easy to switch out pictures whenever you want.

Whether done as a Summer camp craft, or as a fun Summer activity at home, your kids will enjoy creating a fun frame to display their favorite Instagram photos! This would be a fun craft to do at a tween or teen birthday party!

I might do another frame featuring an image of my cat Lulu, and use some words like “catlover” “catsofinstagram” and even “monkeykitty” which is our nickname for her!

Which words would you put on a hashtag frame?

I’m Laura, the creative mind behind Pet Scribbles, my blog where I share craft tutorials, home and garden projects, and occasional cat stories. I can never have enough pretty craft paints to work with, and I love to make things look time-worn with distressing and aging – especially wood projects both large and small. Stop by!