Photo Art by David Squire
So you have tons of pictures in your closet or under your coffee table that you hardly look at anymore. Let's display them and remind ourselves of vacations, a family get-together, friends or family birthdays, or beautiful scenery that you wanted to capture.
Maybe you’ve put together a photo album or have a handful of frames throughout the house. Maybe you have an online photo gallery for all your friends and family to see. All are great ideas, but what about creating a collage. How about a fun family project to do in order to remind yourself to smile and feel good.
This is a simple process that’s fun for the whole family. Taking all those photos of vacations, a family get-together, friends or family birthdays, or beautiful scenery that you wanted to capture. After all, you snapped all those photos for a reason, right? So let's get them out and display them.
Take an area in your home, maybe a hallway or a spare bedroom, and visualize a collage on the wall filled with all those fun pictures you have.
Take some measurements of the size of the collage that you would like to have. Next, you need to go down to the local hardware store.
There are several materials to help create a collage of photos on your wall. Just stop by your local hardware store and look around in the wood trim department. They have white primed wood, paintable wood, and some fancy wood, all of which are ready for either staining or painting the color of your choosing.
If painting and staining is not your cup of tea, then you would be interested to know about some alternative products that are on the market.
They now have plastic trim that is already glossy white or brown. I have even seen plastic decorative trim that looked like wood with grain and knots. There’s also some cardboard-type trim with wood grain veneers that are inexpensive that will work. This material doesn't need any paint or stain applied.
Once in the trim department, you will have many choices. Take some time choosing, or get some samples and take them home. Hold the samples on the wall to help you visualize what it will look like.
If you don’t feel comfortable cutting wood or just don’t have a saw or the skills to cut and nail wood trim to your walls, there are some alternative choices.
You can have the hardware store sales associate make the cuts for you. Remember I mentioned taking some measurements of the size you wanted? Well, this little piece of info will be helpful. Just tell the hardware store sales associate your measurements. Make sure all the cuts are at a 45-degree angle. By having the cuts at a 45-degree angle, when you install them, you will end up with a perfect square or rectangle with all the corners lining up perfectly.
Now that you have your wood trim, you need something to attach it with. If you're not comfortable nailing wood trim to your wall, or perhaps you don’t own a nail gun, there are alternative choices here as well that won’t leave you with nail holes to be filled.
In the paint department, you will find an easy-to-use glue that was made to attach wood trim to your walls without nails. It comes in a squeeze tube or caulking gun tube style. Just pick one that you are comfortable with. These products are easy to use and are inexpensive. A small tube will go a long way. While you are in the paint department, you might want to consider a contrasting wall color for the inside of your square or rectangle.
Adding a contrasting color as a background is not necessary. This is entirely up to you, but it will help add some dimension to your project.
Now that you have your choice of trim and a way to attach it, it's time to get started.
For all intents and purposes, I will use the glue as an example for attaching the trim. And also this example I will be using will be a square.
You want to start at the bottom (horizontal) so that each intersecting piece will use the bottom piece as an anchor. Using the squeeze tube, apply a bead along the back side and put it on the wall where you would like the bottom (horizontal) to be and make sure it is level. Follow the directions on the side of the tube of glue.
Before attaching any more, wait until the first piece is dry and firmly attached.
Once your first trim piece is on and dry, you are ready to install the three other trim pieces. Apply the glue to the (vertical) trim piece and attach it above and to the inside (left) of your bottom trim piece, making sure you line up the 45-degree angle. Repeat this step for the outer side (right). Make sure you a have a tight fit and they are aligned to the bottom corner piece at the 45-degree angle.
Before your two (vertical) trim pieces are dry, attach the top (horizontal) trim piece, making sure you line up the 45-degree angle to the other two (vertical) trim pieces to create a square.
By attaching the last three trim pieces, in one step you can make a slight adjustment before the glue completely dries to ensure you have a nice square with tight 45-degree corners.
Now that you have an outline of wood trim in the form of a square, you are ready for the next step. If a contrasting background is what you want, then now would be the time to paint it. With or without your contrasting wall color, you can start attaching your photos of vacations, a family get-together, friends or family birthdays, or beautiful scenery that you wanted to capture.
Attaching your pictures is a simple step. You could use Scotch tape, Elmer's Glue (the white glue we used in grade school), Mod Podge, or two-sided tape. The glue or tape selection is up to you. Just start attaching pictures to the inside of your square or rectangle. You can cut some backgrounds out or make different shapes. It's entirely up to you.
The whole idea is to have a fun family activity and to not let all those pictures sit and stay in some album book or locked away in a closet. You should be reminded of family and friends or vacations and birthday parties, anything that will remind yourself to smile and feel good. Have fun with this fun family project.
David has been in the remodeling and interior design business for over 18 years and has worked closely with hundreds of designers to bring their creations to life with model perfect showcases. He has used his experience to help customers, from choosing the right colors to rearranging their interiors for a more relaxed-feeling atmosphere. He has had a passion for the arts and spends his free time on personal projects, from arts and crafts to personal well-being. He continually shares ideas and suggestions for improving one's surroundings to give a positive, stress-free living environment. He has now shifted his attention to helping others find the best prices and products for their own creations from arts and crafts to interior designs at http/:www.superartwork.com and http/:www.bedandbathzone.com.
http://astore.amazon.com/supeartw-20
