I’ve had this little project floating around in my head for months and I finally carved out the time to make it a reality. Embellished photo mats are a super easy way to add a special touch to a photo. My birch tree photo mats were inspired by my son’s woodland theme nursery. Here’s how I did it…

Supplies:

• Photo Mats (11 x 14″ or smaller)
• Scrapbook Paper (I used a crosshatch design from Martha Stewart Cafe Collection)
• Xacto Knife
• Cutting Mat
• Glue (I prefer Yes! Paste)
• Pencil

Step by Step:

1. On the backside of your scrapbook paper trace the edges and photo opening of your mat to use as a guide when drawing your design.

2. Draw your design.  I free-handed two birch trees with an owl and bird.  I cut the owl and bird out of a different color paper.

3. Use an Xacto knife to carefully cut out your design.

4. Glue your cutouts to the photo mat.  For my owl I cut little u shapes to make feet.  While gluing the owl on I slipped the feet over one of the branches of the tree.  I decided to make two photo mats and used the two birch trees I cut out to give the illusion of one tree running up both mats.  To do this, line up your mats before gluing down the trees.

5. Frame your new photo mats to highlight your favorite pictures.  The frames shown here are Bamboo Gallery Frames from Dick Blick Art Supply. I love the 1.5 inch thick profile.