A lot of people nowadays don’t bother to print out their pictures because they’re fine being in Instagram feeds and Facebook albums. However, some people still want it printed out and displayed in their homes. If you’re one of those people and you’re bored of the typical store-bought frames, here are some fun and easy do-it-yourself ideas to display your beloved photos while also displaying how creative you really are.
DIY Photo Wall Bulletin Board
It’s easy to decorate a blank wall if you are full of ideas. If you have a lot of photos you want to show off, then your blank wall is the perfect canvas. Why not make a bulletin board to gather all your photos together to make one big photo wall?
Procedure:
1. Gather these materials:
- 4×8’ soundboard
- White thrifted sheet (make sure it’s big enough to cover one side of the soundboard)
- 4×4 photos
- Staple gun
- Straight pins
- 2.5-inch screws
2. Iron your thrifted sheet to make it smooth.
3. Place ironed sheet on a clean table, with wrong side up. Place soundboard over it. Pull excess fabric, wrap around and staple to the back of the soundboard. Make sure to miter the corners.
4. Once your soundboard is covered with the sheet, arrange photos as you wish.
5. Pin each photo in two corners using straight pins. Since these photos are simply pinned, you can swap out photos anytime you want.
6. Poke a hole into the sheet with a knife. Hang your creation on the wall using 2.5-inch screws into studs.
DIY Photo Clipboards
Are you looking for a unique and creative way to display your photos? If your home needs a touch of rustic, wooden accessories, here’s a good idea for you. Make a photo clipboard out of wood boards to show off your gorgeous photos. Here’s how:
1. Get some of these:
- 1 x 12-inch pine board
- Chop saw
- Hand sander
- Dark walnut wood stain
- Finishing wax
- Sawtooth hanger
- Silver bulldog paper clips
- Super glue
- Photos
2. Cut your 1 x 12 board into 4 same-sized pieces using your chop saw.
3. To make your boards look rustic, sand down the edges and corners using your hand sander. Wipe of sand dust really well.
4. Apply the stain thinly to the boards. Let the stain sit for around 15 minutes, then wipe away any stain that didn’t soak on the wood.
5. Because you want to make the clipboard look aged, run through the sander to remove some of the stains. The important thing to do here is to bring a dark color to the board. Wipe off the dust.
6. Apply the finishing wax to seal the board.
7. Hammer a sawtooth hanger on the back of each board, then super-glue a paper clip on the top front side of the board. Wait for the glue to dry to make sure the paper clip will stay in place.
8. After the glue was dry, hang it up on the wall. Clip the photo you want to display and make sure its size is proportional to the size of the “clipboard.”
DIY Photo Frame
No, this is not the typical frame + glass + backing you are familiar with. It’s the artsy, Pinterest-worthy type of frame. It’s a frame, literally just the frame, with photos suspended on a lace placed in the middle. Here’s how to make it:
1. Gather these items:
- Birch plywood
- Table saw
- Wood glue
- Miter box
- Nail gun
- Nails
- Drill with 3/16” drill bit
- Leather lace
- Sandpaper
- Paper clips
- Photos
2. Cut 1-1/2” wide pieces out of the plywood piece, then cut to length using the miter box. Cut two pieces of 8” long and two pieces 18” long plywood.
3. Attach the plywood pieces together to make a rectangular frame. Glue and nail the 18” pieces to the ends of the 8” pieces.
4. Get a block of scrap wood and hold it underneath the 8” piece. Don’t glue it – just use it as a support as you drill a hole in the center of the 8” piece to keep the wood from splintering. Proceed with drilling at the very center of the wood piece. Do the same thing with the other 8” piece. This is where you will insert the leather lace.
5. Sand the drilled wood as needed.
6. Cut out a piece of leather lace that is 4 inches longer than the length of your frame. Thread the leather through the holes, then knot it at each end. Make sure to create a knot that is big enough so it won’t get through the hole you created. Trim excess leather as needed.
7. Using paper clips, clip the photos to the leather lace in the way you want.