Washi Tape Picture Frames: Cover a Frame or Tape One to the Wall

There are two quite different things called washi tape frames. One is a real picture frame with its face covered in tape. The other has no frame at all: it is an outline of tape stuck to a wall or door around a print. The first is a small tabletop project; the second is a way to display paper without nails or glass.

Both are covered here, starting with the covered frame.

Which frames take tape well

Tape needs a flat, smooth face to lie on. Good candidates are plain flat-profile wooden frames, raw or lightly finished, and cardboard or pressed-board craft frames. A face between 3/4 and 1 1/2 in (2 to 4 cm) wide is comfortable to work on.

Poor candidates are frames with deep moldings, carved or beaded profiles, rough-sawn wood, and thick glossy varnish. On curves and grooves the tape bridges the hollows and lifts; on high gloss it can slide off with handling. Dusty raw wood also holds badly, so wipe it first.

Materials and preparation

• A flat frame, with the glass, backing board and any hanging hardware removed
• One or two rolls of 15 mm washi tape, or a wide roll of 20 to 30 mm
• Scissors, a craft knife, a metal ruler and a self-healing cutting mat
• A dry cloth

Wipe the frame free of dust and let any dampness dry off. Decide which way the strips run. Lengthwise strips along each side give a classic frame look and need mitered corners. Short strips laid across the face, like rungs, are easier, need no miters and make the most of striped or mixed rolls.

Cover the frame one side at a time

These steps use lengthwise strips. A craft knife is involved, so this part is for adult hands.

1. Start with the top side. Cut a strip about 1 in (2.5 cm) longer than the side at each end.
2. Lay the strip so it overhangs the outer edge of the frame by roughly half its width. Press it onto the face from the middle outward, then fold the overhang down over the outer edge and burnish it.
3. Lay a second strip along the inner edge the same way, overhanging into the opening. If the two strips do not meet on the face, add a third down the middle, overlapping both slightly.
4. At each inner corner, snip the overhanging tape diagonally into the corner, then fold it down onto the inside edge. Keep it out of the recess where the glass sits, or the glass may not seat properly.
5. Repeat on the bottom side, then the two uprights. Let the strips of the uprights run over the ends of the top and bottom strips.

Miter the corners

At every corner there are now two layers of tape crossing. Lay the metal ruler from the inner corner of the opening to the outer corner of the frame. With light pressure, draw the knife along the ruler through both layers. Lift away the loose triangle on top, raise the upper strip a little, remove the triangle underneath, and press everything back down. The two strips now meet on a clean diagonal.

The cut is the same one used on a page border, and the walkthrough on neat mitered corners for tape borders goes through it slowly if you would like to practice on paper first.

If a mitered corner does not appeal, leave the overlap square and cover each corner with a small square of contrasting tape instead.

Finish and reassemble

Burnish the whole face with the back of a spoon, paying attention to the edges and corners. Refit the glass, the picture and the backing board. Check the back: tape wrapped around the outer edge should stop short of the clips or tabs so they still close.

A covered frame is for dry indoor display. Dust it with a dry cloth, since washi tape is not waterproof and a wet wipe can loosen the edges. Stood on a shelf next to a few glass jars banded with the same tape, it makes a coordinated group from very little material.

A frame made only of tape

For the second project the tape goes directly onto a wall, a door or the side of a cabinet, and the print sits inside the outline. The tape does not hold the print. Washi does not carry weight, so fix the paper with small pieces of removable mounting putty at the corners and let the tape do the framing.

Painted walls, wallpaper and fresh or flaking paint all carry some risk with any tape. Test a hidden patch first and peel slowly at a low angle when the time comes; the full set of cautions is in the article on applying washi tape to walls and removing it.

1. Hold the print in place and mark its four corners with faint pencil dots. Check the top pair with a small level.
2. Decide on the margin. A gap of about 1/2 to 1 in (1.3 to 2.5 cm) between print and tape looks like a mat; no gap looks like a slim frame.
3. Apply the top strip first, a little longer than needed, pressing from one end to the other without stretching.
4. Add the two sides, then the bottom, overlapping at the corners.
5. Trim the ends with scissors before pressing them down. Do not use a knife on the wall. For a mitered look, fold the end of each strip under itself at 45 degrees.
6. Mount the print with putty and erase any pencil dots that still show.

Single, double and corner-only styles

Small squares of a second tape set over the corners hide the joins on any of the three.

For a group of frames, cut a paper spacer and use it between every pair so the gaps stay equal.