The first time I saw a row of open-back, ready-made frames at the craft store, I was mystified how to hold the painting into the frame. So I avoided the subject altogether for a long time. Because I don’t want you to miss out like I did, here is a tutorial demonstrating how to hold your painting in place.
1. Place your painting in the frame so that it appears how you will want to see it when finished, then flip over to the reverse side to work. If the painting does not fill up the whole depth of the frame, you will need to add cardboard until you have created a flush surface.
2. Cut a piece of craft paper slightly larger than the opening on the back of the frame. Glue it down to the frame. This will hold in the painting.
3. Wire hooks to make the painting hang not-quite flush with the wall, but they are more dependable than saw tooth hangers. You can buy small eye-hooks, but realize that very small ones might pull out of the back of heavy paintings — the hook needs to be quite securely screwed into the wood.
4. Enjoy!
