I have been really enjoying taking Polaroids this summer and I realized that each time I finish a pack of film, I am throwing away the plastic cartridge that encases the film inside my polaroid camera. I thought that since its purpose is to carry film anyway, it would make a really cool looking frame for my polaroids!! I love this project because it's fun and so customizable! You can really decorate your frame with whatever you want, so I hope you all enjoy this project as much as I do!

Supplies

- Empty Polaroid cartridge

- Spray Paint and/or Acrylic Paint

- Various sized paint brushes (depending on if you want to make a more detailed design)

- Tape

- Various Beads or any kind of decoration you want (optional)

- Hot Glue Gun **not pictured**

- A scrap piece of paper or cardboard to put the empty cartridge on while spray painting

Step 1: Tape Off Your Empty Cartridge

a) Before taping off my empty cartridge, I folded a piece of paper to put inside so that I don't get spray paint inside the frame. This is of course optional. Also, if you are hand painting your frame, you don't have to do this since you have more control of where the paint is going.

b) With your tape, you want cover the sections you don't want to get spray paint on. I am doing this because I want half of my frame to be gold and the other half to be painted white. If you are going for only 1 color for your frame, then you can skip this step.

Step 2: Spray Paint (optional)

a) If you decide you want to spray paint you polaroid cartridge, make sure to do it in a well ventilated area, preferably outside, and with a mask on. Even if you are outside, the wind can blow in your direction causing you to inhale the paint so a mask is important.

b) After you spray paint, allow at least 3 hours for your paint to dry. While it only takes 30 minutes to dry, the paint needs time to cure. If you would like the this process to go a bit faster, you can leave the spray painted cartridge in a heated room.

Step 3: Acrylic Painting

a) In this step, I took off the tape to start painting with my acrylic paint since I decided to use both spray paint and acrylic paint.

b) Using my white paint, I painted the first layer of paint and waited for it to dry. You will need to paint a few layers to create an opaque finish and so that we don't see the paint brush streaks against the black surface. Overall I did 3 layers of white paint

Step 4: Decorating

While I decided to only decorate with paint, use this step to decorate your frame however you like! Use beads of different colors and shapes and use your hot glue gun to attach them!

Step 5: Insert Your Polaroid Picture

Under the base of your frame, there is a flap from which the film comes out of the camera. Lift this flap and insert your polaroid picture. Set it up in a nice spot and you're done!