How to make your own photo mats
Last week, my husband and I were down in the basement cleaning out a lot of our junk stuff, and I came across an old art project I did in college.
If you ignore the crazy sparkly bird nest in the bottom right corner, its actually a great piece of art! or it will be when I'm done with it. Just a quick background in case you are interested...if not, well you are going to hear it anyways. For this project, we had to take an image, sketch it, and create 3 renderings; one with ink, one with pencil crayon, and one with watercolor marker. Then we had to recreate the image in 3D, hence the crazy birds nest. Which has obviously seen better days.
I've been looking for art to go above the bed in my Guest Bedroom/Craft Room, and when I found this in my stash in the basement, I knew it would work perfectly. So I went about separating the 3 sketches, cut some photo mats, framed them, hung them, and then realized not all of you know how easy it is (not to mention inexpensive) to cut your own photo mats! So guess what...a tutorial was born.
Told ya it was a great piece of art. Actually 3 to be exact:)
First thing you are going to need to do this project is a large piece of mat board. I bought mine at Hobby Lobby for $7.99 - 40% off coupon, so it bought it down to $4.79. And the board is huge. I could probably cut 6 mats this size from one board! SO much more economical then getting someone to cut them for you!
You also need some sort of mat cutting tool. Now there are many different tools & kits out there ranging from inexpensive to very pricey, and I've tried a few of them, but I like my simple Logan Push Style Bevel Mat Cutter. Its a great inexpensive option at $20. To use it you will also need a good Cork Back Metal Ruler and a Self Healing Cutting Mat . And just to make it easy for you, I linked to the products that I recommend. If you don't have a metal cork back ruler or a cutting mat, I HIGHLY recommend you invest in one if you don't have them already. I use mine all.the.time. The cork back ruler helps to keep whatever you are cutting from sliding.
Ok! Now that we have the tools out of the way, lets get to work! First thing you need to do is cut your mat to the size of your frame. If its a new frame, I always use the paper inserts as a tracing guide. These frames are my favorite IKEA Stromby frames. Such a great value at $7.99 each. Just simply trace or measure the size on the back of the mat board, then cut it using your ruler and some sort of cutting blade. I use one similar to these Retractable Razor Knife . You could also use an exacto knife, although I find them not quite as sturdy for cutting heavy mat board.
Once you have the mat cut, you now need to trace the opening on the back of the mat. How I do this is I find the center of the mat by drawing a straight line from one corner to the opposite corner to create a big X. Then using the center of the X as my starting point, I will measure & mark the size I want my opening, then draw straight lines using a right edge angle. If you don't have one of these around, no problem. You can use something else with a 90 degree angle, or even just your ruler. Just double check to make sure the lines are straight before cutting!!
Now that our lines are drawn and double triple checked to make sure they are straight and the right size, we are ready to start cutting! Grab your cork back ruler and your mat cutter.
Read the instructions included with your Mat cutter very carefully as they may differ from the instructions I am giving you here!!
Since this specific cutter that I am using gives you a nice beveled edge, you are going to want to cut from the inside of your square that is traced on the back of your mat.
Line up the ruler along the outer edge of your line marking the opening. The mat cutter has a white line right in the center as a guide. Line this marking up with the line for the bottom of your opening.
Now with firm pressure, hold your ruler down, place your mat cutter along the edge of your ruler then with your thumb, push the blade into the mat, and push the mat cutter up the edge of the ruler stoping when the white guide on the mat cutter reaches the top line of your opening.
Gentle but firm pressure is key!! If you don't hold your ruler down firmly, it will slide and you won't get a nice straight line. I usually like to do a lighter cut first, scoring the mat board, then I go over the cut again until it is cut all the way through. After your first cut is made, turn your mat board 90 degrees counter clockwise and repeat the cut on all 3 sides. When you turn it over, you should have a nice, clean beveled edge!
I also highly recommend doing a few practice cuts to get the hang of using your mat cutter first. Once you do get the hang of it, It's a piece of cake! Now you have the skill to cut custom mats for all your artwork at a fraction of the cost!
I'm just loving how the birds nests look against my stenciled wall! This room has been such a sloooow process, but now I'm in a rush to get a few things finished so its ready for our guests this holiday season! Hoping to share the finished result with all of you soon:)
** Update! The room is DONE and you can see it here! **
AND just in case you love my Nest art as much as I do, I'm offering the nest prints, pillows and other decor items for sale on Society6!
I also cut all my mats for my gallery wall as well, saving me hundreds of dollars! You can read all about that project here.
Best of luck to you in your mat cutting! I am by no way a professional, but let me know if you have any questions along the way and I will help as best I can!
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