In my quest to decorate my cubicle at my new workplace, I decided I wanted to make as many pieces by myself as possible. I love a good DIY challenge, especially if it is a chance to be creative and not even draw from a Pinterest tutorial.

One of the staples I knew my desk needed was a good picture frame. While I am more prone to deck out my home space with pinks and bright hues, I knew I wanted my work cubicle to be a bit more professional and subdued.

I decided on a theme of navy blue with mixed gold and rose gold accents. I knew that picture frames would be a fab opportunity to establish a lot of the navy. I also am crazy about navy and white horizontal stripes (seriously, I literally own like four shirts that have that pattern…it’s a problem).

So, I decided to make hand painted frames with thick navy and white stripes. I drew inspiration from Kate Spade’s website. Her use of black and white and crisp lines really appeals to me.

And the best part? These are SO easy to make!

Here’s what you will need if you want to make these: basic white frame (I bought a two pack, to make one portrait and one landscape frame), painters’ tape, navy blue acrylic paint, and a brush.

The painters’ tape is used to preserve the white stripes. Of course, you can use a ruler to make sure your painters’ tape is perfectly level, but I honestly was happy just eyeballing it. Looking at the finished product, I can’t even really see any unevenness in the stripes.

Before you get to painting, be sure to remove the glass and backing! You don’t want those getting painted on accident.

You will likely need to apply two coats of paint, allowing about half an hour in between coats for drying.  The photo below is after the first coat, and you can still see brush marks from my paintbrush.

Finally, once you are positive that the paint is dry, strip off that painters’ tape and add your favorite photo!

I hope you enjoyed this craft tutorial! Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for more fun ideas.

Until next time,

xoxo Charlotte