Ready for a super easy craft? You might have all of the supplies at home. If you don’t you can easily pick them up at your local thrift store.
To make an upcycled toy car photo frame you will need:
- toy cars
- picture frame
- spray paint
- hot glue gun and several glue sticks
I wandered through a newly renovated Goodwill and that’s when I this idea hit me. Find a flat frame and glue something to it! Yeah! The frame I chose was really out of date with its flowers “Love” on the top. I thought it would be the perfect size to fit a parking lot of cars.
Then I went to bulk toy area and looked at the bags of cars! I chose 2 bags of cars for $3.00 each.
I brought everything home and admired it all….then located some left over spray paint in my painting stash. You don’t need much-so a bottle of spray paint left over from another project is perfect. I had a bright red Rustolium Painter’s Touch called “apple red”.
Take the backing and glass off of the frame and wipe it down with a damp cloth.
Shake up your can of spray paint and lay down some cardboard or news paper. Always spray paint outdoors on a day where there is barely any breeze.
Follow the instructions on your paint as to when to do a second coat. The pattern on this frame wanted multiple coats. It is black on the sides and back so I just spray painted the front. It wasn’t perfectly covered with 2 coats but since we are covering it with cars I didn’t bother with a third coat.
Allow it to fully dry before you begin the next step. I let it dry overnight. You can use that time to wipe down your model cars if they are dusty or sticky.
Now the fun part!
Arrange all the cars around the frame. I used 26 cars in total and would you believe my goodwill bags had 27. If your frame was narrower you could have them hood to bumper around the perimeter of the frame…like a traffic jam. This wide frame was a perfect for my parking lot.
Watch for variety in color as you place the cars around the frame.
Next, you are ready to glue the toy cars onto the frame. Place a dot of hot glue on each wheel. These will be part of the car making contact with the frame.
Put the car back in its place and press firmly. After attaching the toy cars and trucks all around the frame check each one again to make sure that they are secure.
Since this frame will be sitting on a shelf I made sure that the bottom of the cars lined up closely on the bottom with no overhang. Otherwise it could be wobbly. Also, I should mention, that the frame is actually really heavy with 26 cars on it. Put it in a place where it won’t get knocked and fall on a toddler.
That is all there is to this project! Have fun!
