As any accessories lover knows, once you start collecting enamel pins, it’s nearly impossible to stop. But when your collection outgrows the lapel of your denim jacket, it’s a shame not to find another way to show them off. The good news? There’s always space on the wall – especially for a bright, upcycled display that complements your decor.
This DIY solution is easy to execute and offers endless possibilities for customization: Choose a frame size that fits your collection, and a paint color that suits your style. The best part is that this project couldn’t be easier – you might even already have the materials you need stashed in your craft cabinet.

You will need:
- Picture frame
- Spray paint
- Cork placemats
- Utility knife
- Hot glue gun
- Cardboard

Step 1: Remove the frame backing and glass from your frame. Spray paint the frame in a well-ventilated area. Let dry completely.

Step 2: Trace the frame backing onto the cork placemat and use a utility knife to cut along the lines.

Step 3: Hot glue the cork to the cardboard and place the whole thing inside the frame.

Now it’s ready to display your pins!
All photographs by Amanda Kingloff.
112 comments
Sue from SuesAkornShop said 5 years ago
Great idea. This is something I will need to try!
teestrend from Trend2Tees said 5 years ago
That is something i like!
Sally from SallysVintageKitchen said 5 years ago
Wonderful idea! Thank you for sharing!
Michelle White from SPARKLESandSASS said 5 years ago
So Fun, thanks for the share :)
benna and hanna from bennaandhanna said 5 years ago
Cool! Hmmmnn, maybe can be tried with other collections.
Andrii from OakKitchenBoards said 5 years ago
Beautiful shop :-)
Olga Mareeva from OlgaMareeva said 5 years ago
Great! Lovely!
Jill vonErdmannsdorff from QuirkyChaos said 5 years ago
officially on my 2 do list now :)
DecadesOfVintage from DecadesOfVintage said 5 years ago
great idea. very creative!
Arabela Covaciu from AntiqueTransylvania said 5 years ago
Great idea! I will go and hunt some pins this weekend :)
Mary Jo and Rachael from SouvenirAndSalvage said 5 years ago
Love this idea! I've got a collection of vintage buttons and pinbacks that I'd love to try this with too. - Rachael
drunkmansdaughter from NaturallySonia said 5 years ago
very sweet ;)
Cathy from msbijouxbeads said 5 years ago
Looks cute and fun, thanks!
Francine Carroll from MysteryTrunk said 5 years ago
It's a simple way to add a touch of who you are to your surroundings. Love it!
Adrienne from DabAndDabble said 5 years ago
Brilliant ♥ !
kshallenberger said 5 years ago
Hey this is a great idea. My father had all sorts of cool little pins that he collected since college, WWII, clubs and campaign buttons. Now I can display them. Thanks!!
Dorothy from JewelrybyDorothy said 5 years ago
Great idea! Thank you!
Julia K Walton from FireHorseVintageHQ said 5 years ago
What a cute idea - a fun decoration and easy to pick out the one you want to wear, too :o)
Christina from TheWildPlum said 5 years ago
Super!
Relly from RelsFindsNapaValley said 5 years ago
Remarkable idea. Thank you Amanda Kingloff for another work of art.
Daniela Maldarizzi Casalino from dadavinylsanddesigns said 5 years ago
really cute Idea! :)
R. Anne from LnRworks said 5 years ago
Neat idea! I've got to try that!
renee and gerardo from GTDesigns said 5 years ago
super cool idea! love boards that hold 'little things' - vintage ones are awesome too!! TFS!
Kashuen Collectibles from Kashuen said 5 years ago
Interesting idea. I should give it a try.
Priscilla from Gardenmis said 5 years ago
This is a great idea for kids 4H pins too! Thanks for sharing :)
HydrangeaJewelry from HydrangeaJewelry said 5 years ago
Cute! Great idea! Thank you dor sharing.
Madeleine Keller from ThoseGoodVibrations said 5 years ago
Aww this is so cute! I like to do this too! Usually I use pins as slightly more decorative tacks when pinning things to my bulletin board :)
LivingVintage from LivingVintage said 5 years ago
Great idea. Thanks!
Matejka Max from NattyMatty said 5 years ago
Cool!
accentonvintage from accentonvintage said 5 years ago
Great idea!
DeUno from DeUno said 5 years ago
Lovely!
Cristy Ramos from ArtisanBathandBody said 5 years ago
Thus is fun! Thank you ♥
Cristy Ramos from ArtisanBathandBody said 5 years ago
This ^^^^
Dorina van den Brandeler from DoriKri said 5 years ago
Super cool!! This I have to try perhaps trying to find a way with earrings, with some wire... aaah! Thank you for sharing!
Kate from kateandlouise said 5 years ago
Love it!! I have a few frames with my Disney pins on display. Can you tell me where you found your frying pan pin? It's adorable!
Renee from RandMhandmade said 5 years ago
We have so many State Fair pins...this is such a great idea!!
Dig Deep Vintage from digdeepvintage said 5 years ago
I love pins-have so many from when I was little-dusting them off now-great idea!
Francine from HomespunHeartofMine said 5 years ago
AWESOME idea Amanda!!! Thanks for the great tutorial!!! :D
TropicalGarden from TropicalGarden said 5 years ago
Great idea! Thanks for sharing:)
Katy Allgeyer from ArtBarn said 5 years ago
I love your collection, Amanda! I've got a framed group of vintage hand carved and hand painted miniature feather pins from the same artist at my shop but it never occurred to me to put together an eclectic assortment of various loose pins that I have. Thanks for the inspiration!
Stacy O'Rourke from AmeliasWreathsofJoy said 5 years ago
Love this idea! I made a Disney inspired one on canvas by painting a castle, a crown and Minnie's head and then adding my Disney pins.
Christa Quotes from CleverCatQuotes said 5 years ago
Fantastic idea!
Lisa from IrisNaomiVintageJwls said 5 years ago
Very nice ! I do vintage rhinestone pins - I will try this - need to display them. Thanks !
Backyard Silversmiths from BackyardSilversmiths said 5 years ago
Clever! Yes, this would be a fun way to showcase political campaign buttons :).
M L from BluefishiesArtStudio said 5 years ago
Great idea! Thanks...:)
Saba from satorstudio said 5 years ago
This is so cool, I actually never thought about that... it could be a nice idea also to show pins in my shop ;) thanks!
Katrina Dzerkale from Dominna said 5 years ago
such a simple, amazing idea :)
Sissi Hand from SissiHand said 5 years ago
Simple and pretty !! Nice idea, thank you
robin mcclary from mcclaryrobin said 5 years ago
So nice for you to share-- thanks
ArcanaAntiquities from ArcanaAntiquities said 5 years ago
great post!
Bobana Pasalic from BoBoWorlds said 5 years ago
:)
Vanessa Fung from VFIllustration said 5 years ago
Interesting!
Debbie Krusen from TwinAntiques said 5 years ago
I love brooches and would love to enjoy my collection, so for me this is the perfect solution! Thanks!
allwood1 from AllWoodToo said 5 years ago
Nice idea!
Sos Serrurier said 5 years ago
Simple and pretty !! Very nice ! I
Tanya from TanyaToys said 5 years ago
Great idea. thanks
iris moore from TheRenfrewFairy said 5 years ago
My next project! Thank you for sharing.
Pepitas House from PepitasStudio said 5 years ago
Great idea to pin all those school awards
Kelly Zuber said 5 years ago
I did something very similar, except instead of a using a picture frame I used a shadow box. That way the pins would not get dusty. I also wrapped the cork in a thin layer of material to ensure the pin designs really popped. It looks great!
Sujata from TreasuredMemoryLane said 5 years ago
Great idea! Thanks for sharing.
Natalia from KMalinkaVintage said 5 years ago
Awesome idea!
Hajira Gibb from HajiraKG said 5 years ago
Great idea. Thanks for the great tutorial. Thank you :)
Lowe Jewelry from lowelowejewelry said 5 years ago
Great idea :)
Katarzyna Bialik from CruellyCool said 5 years ago
Love it! And I love this wallpaper!
Southern Decor from MySouthernDecor said 5 years ago
These are so cute!
nanaandcompany from nanaandcompany said 5 years ago
Perfect!
Melanie Rhoades from ModernTypography said 5 years ago
Love this! Reminded me of these new pins my friend just added to his Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/271237041/california-enamel-pin?ref=shop_home_active_1
Not Made In China Finds from NotMadeInChinaFinds said 5 years ago
Oh boy we are digging deep now Etsy!
Niki from CaramelAppleBooks said 5 years ago
Nice!
Tahir Ismail from Barismil said 5 years ago
such a great idea, easily do able Thanks
Vesna Watsana from Loshcika said 5 years ago
It looks real nice. I hope cork is sustainably grown and harvested. It's good to know the history of the the stuff we use ...
Pardar Chia from NaturaSilver said 5 years ago
Great DIY for pin collection!
Carol from MasCollected said 5 years ago
A very lovely project! 'd love to make this with some of my vintage brooches!
Rasa Rabaciene from PRINTDECOstudio said 5 years ago
Looks good!
Rebecca Dufilie from rebeccascreations said 5 years ago
Great idea!...I would add a plastic acrylic cover or attach a thick clear plastic sheet over the top to keep out dust. I also have a shadow box that I put my fuzzy dragonflies in as keepers! ;o)
Katie Koshy from carpetshopprincess said 5 years ago
I love this idea, but have a quick question. Will the back of your frame fit if you have cardboard and cork inside it? Are there specific frames you need to look for in order to do this project? Non-crafty, vintage person wondering...thanks!
Diana Deluxe from DianaDeluxe said 5 years ago
Fun idea...for me it would be endless hair clips as I have a mini collection of rhinestone ones. :)
Tunnel Bug said 5 years ago
Lovely! @Katie Koshy...Look for a shadow box or a frame that has a little bit of depth between the glass and the cardboard.
Renata Sponn Design from Sponndesign said 5 years ago
Great! Truly inspiring!
Jyoti Baheti from SageMadeDesign said 5 years ago
Great idea!
Rose Cook said 5 years ago
Genius! I'll definitely be doing this!
UNEMPLOYED Custom Orders Wanted USA Made Superhero Cufflinks Wedding Jewelry from boloties said 5 years ago
Looks like a fun project!
Arianna Featherstone from HerbNLiving said 5 years ago
cute! love the corkboard and old frame idea in general !
Vintage De Mar from VintageDeMar said 5 years ago
A Work of Art!
Cathy from Beadra said 5 years ago
WOW, I always wondered how to make them stick into thin cork. Thanks for the tips.
Sharon from YearsAfter said 5 years ago
Very cute!!
5erg from 5erg said 5 years ago
This was inspiring! I need to make a frame for something and spray it. Don't read DIY posts in the morning, this is torture
Tova from TovasTreasures said 5 years ago
Amazing idea, but where do the back of the pin go, the piece that is supposed to go over the sharp pin... the pins might fall off without the backs? Thanks for sharing this fun project (now I have to go look for all those pins I have collected over the years.. ;)))
MYJ from MYJsGallery said 5 years ago
Lovely project :D
K L from KShopping said 5 years ago
This is great!
beeskneesB from BUNCEandBEAN said 5 years ago
Pin boards ARE great, and that's why I designed custom cork-magnet corkies and upcycle vintage frames and fabrics! I will say that magnet boards allow you to rearrange to your heart's content, and the fabrics mean you can coordinate with the season or your collection :-) #BUNCEandBEAN https://www.etsy.com/shop/BUNCEandBEAN
veronica m from spremutadipois said 5 years ago
So cute!
Bambi from WildBDesigns said 5 years ago
This is such an adorable idea! I can't wait to make one for all of my teen daughter's flair!
Jafeth Moiane from handicraftafrica said 5 years ago
Great imagination! Congrats!
Kristiana from kristianafelt said 5 years ago
Great idea!
Rosalba Da Silva from BolboretaMint said 5 years ago
I love the idea, very well made!
DARIA from Dawaria said 5 years ago
Wow! Great idea! :) Have you made a similar frame for magnets? I wonder what kind of material should be used..
heba seada from HebaSeadaArt said 5 years ago
Simple but nice. Congratulations! :)
Jeanne S from EclecticSageVintage said 5 years ago
So cute, all of a sudden, I want a pin collection!
Andrii Tkachuk from LaserStore said 5 years ago
nice idea
Szilvi from Szilvi02 said 5 years ago
Nice idea, thanks for is :-)
Kessa E. Connan from StitchedandPicked said 5 years ago
I love this! Great easy to follow instructions.
Megan Smey from PaintingMeg said 5 years ago
so cute!
RedBear Design - happy everywhere from redbeardesign said 5 years ago
love this cute idea.. thank you ~
allwood1 from AllWoodToo said 5 years ago
Neat! I would never have thought to do this!
Blackberry from myBlackberryHouse said 5 years ago
Great idea ^)
Angie Long from spykitty33 said 5 years ago
FABULOUS idea! My jean jackets do get covered with quite display!!! Wish I had some of your cool pins!! :)
CAROL BATES from MEMOMSCLOSET said 5 years ago
Great idea! I was pinning my pin collection onto a plain shower curtain so everyone had something to look at in the bathroom, but I just took it down for the summer.
Nantida Khumrung from AfifShop said 5 years ago
Cool Tips!!
yaelg1978 from DesignedParty said 4 years ago
Beautiful!!!
Griffin Montgomery from GriffinJoyPhoto said 4 years ago
Oh fun! I'm going to try this!
Kayla Solace from Kayla4escribe said 289 days ago
Seems cool...but does this work for all pins?