Written by editor Nicole Bennett of Gidget Goes Home.

One of my favorite things about moving into a new home is decorating the walls. I recently saw Ashley Ann from Under the Sycamore say on Instagram that her husband commented about her not liking white space on the walls. That’s definitely me, too.

My husband often makes similar comments to me, but the truth is there is just too much beautiful artwork and too many adorable photos of my kids out there for me to refrain from filling my walls with them. And that doesn’t even count the two guitars and two ukuleles I’m planning to hang up soon.

This time around I decided to take down one of the paintings from the girls’ room– I’m just not that into it anymore. After changing a few things from frame to frame and was left with a frame that I love and a photo that I love, but unfortunately in differing sizes.

I considered getting a new mat made (but that would mean a trip to Michaels and forking over some dough), or making my own “mat,” out of scrapbook paper (which might look a little cheesy), but finally decided on using some fabric (that coordinates with the girls’ valance!) from my stash (currently stored in my upstairs coat closet) to make my own fabric-mat. I love how it turned out!

Here’s how I did it (it’s pretty basic, but I thought I’d give you the step-by-step anyway).

1. Find an old frame– awww, look at those cute college-age kiddos… memories.

2. Find fabric and take out the cardboard backing from in the frame.

3.-4. Pull the fabric taut around the cardboard, and tape down. I used painter’s tape that I had lying around. Make sure to try to pull evenly so your fabric stays even on the front.

5. Center your photo. I used an 8×10 photo on an 11×14 piece of cardboard.

6. Attach the photo. I glued mine down with Decou-Page. Just a tiny drop of glue will suffice since the frame will hold it in place. If I were being super careful, I would make sure to use something acid-free (I just used what I had on hand).

7. Put your fabric-matted photo back in the frame with the glass. Hang up and enjoy how beautiful it is! Aren’t my two girls just precious?

Have you done any creative photo-matting?