DIY Walnut Photo Holders

For displaying small artwork or photos, there is nothing sweeter than these DIY walnut photo holders. They are perfect for the fall season and just as sweet as can be. As a bonus, they’re incredibly easy to create.

DIY Walnut Photo Holders
DIY Walnut Photo Holders

Materials Needed:

  • Walnuts in shells
  • Wire
  • Drill, pliers, tin snips
DIY Walnut Photo Holders

To begin, you need to select the walnuts with the flattest bottom sides that you can.

DIY Walnut Photo Holders

Make sure the walnuts you choose can stand on their own, and pretty securely, too. When you add in the extra weight and balance-displacing factors of the wire and photo, the walnuts’ stability is lessened.

DIY Walnut Photo Holders

Once you’ve chosen the best (flattest) walnuts, it’s time to choose your drill bit. Match it precisely to your wire thickness.

DIY Walnut Photo Holders

Carefully drill a hole into your walnut, all the way through the flesh but NOT through the other side of your walnut.

DIY Walnut Photo Holders

Keep the drilled hole precise so that it fits your wire snugly.

DIY Walnut Photo Holders

(Tip: Despite the photos you see previously, it is not best to drill your hole into the walnut’s crack because it tends to split. Drill just off to the side of the crack for consistently best results.)

DIY Walnut Photo Holders

Trim 4”-6” of wire with your tin snips. The thicker (e.g., heavier) your wire, the less length you will want because your walnut won’t be strong enough to hold too much weight.

DIY Walnut Photo Holders

Use pliers or needlenose pliers to bend one end of your wire into a circle.

DIY Walnut Photo Holders

Your circle should wrap around itself enough that a photo can fit in there securely.

DIY Walnut Photo Holders

Use pliers to clamp the wire arcs together so they are just wide enough for a photo to stay between them. This photo shows the wires touching, but they will later be separated slightly to accommodate the artwork.

DIY Walnut Photo Holders

Screw your wire carefully into the drilled hole in the walnut. I say “screw” it in there because you’ll want the hole to be tight enough that a twisting motion is required to get the wire to stay. If your wire is slightly loose, consider adding in super glue and letting it dry to secure the wire better.

DIY Walnut Photo Holders

Stand your walnut upright. If it tips over, bend or move the wire around until you achieve a better balance.

Your walnut needs to be able to stand securely on its own with the wire in it before adding the photo or artwork. If it just doesn’t, consider removing the wire and snipping off an inch or two. Or glue a coin to the bottom of your walnut to help flatten it out. Those methods were not used for this tutorial, so I’m not sure how well they would work, but they are ideas.

DIY Walnut Photo Holders

Remember how that one walnut split down the middle? You can use the halves for photo holders as well, if you’d like. Drill a hole in the same way, and insert the wire.

DIY Walnut Photo Holders

The truth is, this half-walnut was the sturdiest walnut photo holder of all of them.

DIY Walnut Photo Holders

Insert your artwork and/or photos into your new DIY walnut photo holders.

DIY Walnut Photo Holders

These are absolutely charming and perfectly textural and thematic for fall décor.

DIY Walnut Photo Holders

Small watercolor artwork, done by a 5-year-old, looks almost professional with such distinct displaying mechanisms.

DIY Walnut Photo Holders

We hope you enjoy creating your own DIY walnut photo holders for the fall season. Happy DIYing!