porchswings n' honeysuckle: DIY Photo Display

I must say, I am quite tickled with the way this photo display turned out…especially considering the price. I estimated that I probably didn’t spend more than $2.15 each! The size of each piece is around 14”x7”. They are 3/4” thick. I got the pictures printed out at Staples for $2.00 each.

In the past, I did some wall art using styrofoam that you can read about here.It turned out pretty good until the adhesive glue ate some spots in the styrofoam and left little dents in one of the posters… I had done three of them at the time and two turned out great, but the third for some reason didn’t. (my favorite, of course Sad smile )

But this latest method worked out great and I would definitely use it again…

I totally love Picasa 3 and that is the program that I used to design these pictures. (it’s also free!)

First I dug out some old pine barn siding and for the first time ever I ran the rip saw! This was an exciting moment for me since I had never quite gotten the nerve to use it and had always just used my faithful clamps and skil saw to cut wood to length.

I, or the saw rather, sliced off 3/4” strips, making the pieces 3/4” all around.

Next I measured the picture I wanted to display…

I cut the wood about a fourth inch longer than the picture.

I glued the frame together with my glue gun.

I had stopped at Zincks fabric outlet on my way home from dropping my son off at school the other day and spent $0.75 on some odd pieces of stiff, black fabric. This worked perfectly to glue the pictures onto.

Next I sprayed some glue to the front of the frame.

I lay the frame onto the fabric and cut around it adding two inches on all sides. Later on, after taking these pictures, I discovered that it looks neater to iron the fabric and it also allowed me to pull it tighter.

Next I stapled the cloth onto the frame…

You can’t really tell by the picture, but I cut away some fabric in the corners to get them tighter and neater. You really want to pull the fabric as tight as possible all around.

Lastly, I applied the spray adhesive to the photo and glued it to the fabric. This can be a little tricky since it dries pretty fast and you really only have one chance to get it even. ( mine didn’t all turn out perfectly even )The more practice I got, the better it went.

I can tell which ones were ironed – they have smoother sides. I am also expecting I might have to glue the top corners since there’s a chance they might peel off from hanging.

This is the display I had up before…