List of materials:

2 coordinating old belts

Piece of chipboard ( I like to use the backs of my drawing pad, canvas pad, etc.)

Tacky glue or similar

Craft knife or fabric cutter

Straight edge, right angle edge

Embellishments

1. Select a belt. Thrift stores are a great place to look for novelty belts. You may want to get two, just to be sure you have enough leather to work with. You can also choose 2 belts that coordinate well together.

2. Remove the buckle or any decoration that you do not want. This belt just used a leather cord to tie on.

3. Make the first cut at a 45º angle. I used my cutting mat to cut the angle. You can use a right angle or make a template with a piece of paper. ** Mitering is not necessary, feel free to make straight cuts because that looks good too!

4. Use the first scrap piece to mark the angle on the other side. Measure the inner part of the frame to the size of the picture you want to accomadate. I’m making a frame for a 5″ by 7″ picture, so this first cut will be 5 inches on the inner part. Make your cut after marking.

5. Use the first piece as a template to cut a second 5-inch piece. These pieces will be the top and bottom of your frame.

6. Next, measure and cut the next two pieces. I made sure on mine to measure the inner portion at 7-inches this time.

7. You can use your 5-inch pieces to mark where your cuts will be. Line up the outer edges at 90º using lines on a cutting mat or right triangle. This ensures that they will line up when you glue them down to the chipboard. It also ensures that you are cutting your angles correctly.

8. Glue down any loose decorative elements that you may have made when making cuts.

9. Cut your chipbord to the correct size and glue down 3 of the leather sides in a U-shape. When glueing, leave some space on the inner edge of each peice, so that you can slip your photo in easily.

10. Press down glued piece and hold for at least 1 minute until leather sticks. Then place heavy objects on glued sides and let set for a few more minutes.

11. Glue final piece by placing glue on only cornered edges. This leaves an opening for inserting your photo.

11. Once glue has set up, hinge tape a trianglular prop onto the back or glue string, rope, etc. for hanging.

12. Finally, your project is done. You can slide your photo in with trimmed sheet of transparency to protect it or you can just put double stick tape on the back of your photo. This is a really simple project and it’s a good way to recycle a once trendy belt. I added some of the leather strips back to my corners because it bothered me that the patterns didn’t line up, but feel free to spice yours up to your liking.