Letter Writers Alliance: PO Box Photo Frame

You see these old school PO Box doors up on Ebay a lot, but I never found a use for them beyond looking awesome. Donovan and I have a few that we bought to do something with, not really know what that something was. I got tired of watching them collect dust, so I decided to make them useful as a picture frame. This is a super easy DIY that looks like a million bucks, so why don't you follow my rambles and make one for yourself?

The glass portion of the door is where the PO Box number used to be placed. (You can see a photo of these doors in their proper use and natural environment here.) This section is perfect for showing off a photo. For this tutorial I'm using photo booth pictures, but you can use any type of photo, cut down to size.

You have two options for turning this door into a picture frame. It all depends on the shape of the metal bar that holds the glass set-up on your door and how clean the glass is. If the metal bar is not tightly screwed on and the glass isn't grimy, you can simply slide your photo between the bar and the glass. That's it! Just slip the photo through and you have a picture frame.

Your second option for this transformation involves a screwdriver. I f you can't slip the photo under the bar without damaging the picture or the glass is super dirty, you'll have to remove the metal bar that holds the glass. Disassembling isn't hard at all, so don't fret. Unscrew the two nuts holding the bar and remove it, making sure to keep the small screws safely away from a curious pet or child. Carefully pop out the glass, clean both sides, place the photo on top of the glass, and then screw the bar back on to hold the photo and glass in place.

The fact that PO Box door is, well, a door with working hinges allows the whole thing to be propped-up nicely. It balances best when positioned with the hinges on top, making it work with portrait oriented photos only. I got it to balance once with it oriented in it's "proper" door position, but it was not very stable, so I wouldn't suggest that set-up.

If you have these doors or ever see them on EBay, try this fun project with them. If make one of these frames, leave a photo in the comments so we can see your handy-work. This is only one of the great ways you can re-purpose these PO Box doors, so don't let your imagination stop with just this idea.