DIY Decoden Picture Frame

Hey guys!

It was my friend’s birthday a few days ago, and because handmade presents are a little more meaningful, I thought it’d be a good idea to make a present, and an even better idea to blog about the whole process. With that being said, I will be showing you guys how I made this decoden picture frame.

If you’re not too familiar with decoden (デコデン), you can check out this short blog post about it here from Lovelyish, a New York based blog team. Overall, or in short, decoden is a Japanese trend where one will decorate their belongings, usually cell phone cases, with fake whipping cream and an assortment of trinkets, as can be seen from my decoden-ed frame. This has becoming an increasingly popular trend that grabbed my attention with its quirkiness. I just had to share it with you guys.

 

What you will be needing for this project will be a picture frame and an assortment of trinkets. I used random buttons, beads and other little figures that I made from paperclay, but you can use anything you want. I originally wanted to use some cute Japanese food shaped erasers, but sadly, I had forgotten about them.

For the faux whipped cream, you will be needing some adhesive caulking, piping tips, and tape. Caulk doesn't seem to cost too much and can be found in most hardware stores (This tube was $1.99). As for the piping tips, I purchased a set of 3 metal tips and 8 plastic tips from Daiso (Japanese dollar store) for $1.50 per set, but you can also find piping tips from craft stores like Michaels and even some grocery stores. If you are unable to get a hold of piping tips, that's okay. There are always alternatives, and I will be going into more about that later on in this post.

You can skip this step you you don't feel the need to paint your frame. First, remove the frame backing along with the piece of glass and leave the frame alone for at least 30 minutes to let it dry after the first coat of paint and keep applying as needed.

Next, to get your tube of caulking ready, start by removing the cap and cutting the tip of the tube off if you are using an unopened tube of caulking. Then place the piping top over the tip of the tube and tape it down to make sure it stays put.

When you begin piping the caulking onto your frame, make sure you're doing it in a well ventilated area because the fumes from the caulk may be harmful. Also, make sure that you try to get any large air bubbles out from the tube of caulk before piping it out because the air bubble may create a burst of air that will form a hole in your whipped cream, which can be seen in the picture below (on the left side of the frame).
ALTERNATIVE: If you don't have piping tips, you can just squeeze the caulk straight from the bottle onto the frame. Using a toothpick, swirl the caulk around in circular motions. This makes the caulking look like real whipped cream. Practicing this or your piping on a separate piece of plastic is also a good idea so you can get a feel for how your faux whipped cream may look on the frame.

Don't worry if your whipped cream doesn't look perfect, you're going to be cover the frame in trinkets later on, so that will hide any mistakes.

Here's the best part! Time to decorate your heart out on this frame!

After you've finished decorating your frame, leave it alone to let the caulk set and dry. Different brands of caulk may have different drying times. For DAP's Kwik Seal adhesive caulk, I let the frame sit for a couple of days just to make sure that it dried completely.

After the frame has dried, place the piece of glass, your picture, and the frame backing back onto the frame and your left with a fun and quirky picture frame! ♥

Decoden may seem a bit over-the-top; however, I believe that this is a great way of materializing your own self-expression into your personal belongings. Plus, these are super cute and easily customizable, which make them great gifts! The term decoden (デコデン) is coined from mashing two words together to mean phone decoration. "Deco," phonetically short for decoration and "den," short for the Japanese word denwa (phone). But, of course, you are not only limited to decorating phone cases; you can essentially decorate anything you want. 

What do you guys think of decoden? Do you think it's fun and quirky? Maybe too tacky? Leave your comments below! I'd also love to see any of your decoden creations if you chose to try this out! 

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog! ♥

Until next time~