Thursday, March 17, 2011

Photo Collage How-To


Lots of people have seen/asked about how to go about doing this large scale photo collage. So, I thought I'd give a little explanation. Unfortunately, this was done several years ago, so I don't have a pictorial step by step.

I started with great photos. These were done by a semi-professional photographer, but because I wanted to do them so large (16x20), I wasn't sure if color photos would come our grainy. So, I went with black and whites. Also, B&Ws have a certain "match anything" quality and don't clutter up the landscape of your room as much.

I sent these photos off to costco.com, and 3 days later they arrived. I purchased black foam core board from a craft store (Michaels), and some spray adhesive. I've since come to find out that the better way to do the adhesing is with rubber cement. It sticks as well, but stays "slimy" for awhile, and allows you to slide the picture around on the foam core board to get it positioned well. The spray adhesive is "unforgiving" in that sense....a 2 man job to get it down straight and bubble free.


Lastly, after everything is dry, just tack the photos onto the wall using brads (very small headed nails) and countersink the nails. Countersinking is a method of using an awl (looks like an ice pick) and a hammer to tap the nail head below the surface of the foam core, so you don't see the nail at all.awl. ha! I crack myself up.

The small embellishments from Uppercase Living are 6" square, and add just that certain sompn-sompn, ya know?

Sorry again, for lack of photos. Happy crafting!!

3 comments:

Kelly said...

That turned out beautiful. And "sompn-sompn" made me laugh. Will you do this above your new stairs?

Rosie said...

Looks wonderful Lauren and good looking kids! :) The part of this I'd appreciate you explaining is how you stage it. Do you use a piece of butcher paper, or something, to figure out exactly where you want them on the wall? And in general, are their "rules" about how sizes and shapes look best together? Top pictures always larger than ones below???What's a standard width between pictures...you get my drift...I just want you to come over and DO it for me! :)

haven said...

Kelly, thanks for finding (and commenting) on my blog!! I do plan to put these back up in our new house...just need to paint.

Rosie, good thoughts! Maybe I'll do "an ammendment" to this post...watch for it. :) Maybe a general photo collage hanging how to...:) I would come to your house anyday! xo L.