Tired of the Picture Frames

Tired of the picture frames? Me too! This post displays all the different ways I've decorated my home with photos of friends, family, and good times without picture frames.  Most are fairly simple and you can figure out how to do it yourself simply by looking at the pictures I've posted.

But before I share them I must sing the high praises of my favorite tool in the world: Scotch Mounting Tape.  I've used this tape for about 70% of all the crafts I have ever done.  It's sturdy, it's strong, it's long lasting, and as long as you take your time peeling it off the paint on your walls will stay in tact.  I highly recommend you purchasing some, and I used it for all of the picture hanging techniques you will see below.  I love this stuff!

Technique #1

This is one of my favorites.  Picture frames always seem to dull down the picture or make it more serious than it should be, and while scrapbooks are more appropriate for silly pictures and silly memories, I never seem to flip through them as much as I'd like to.  This is a way to keep the light hearted emotion with the pictures but display them on your wall.  Using card stock paper I cut out a heart and taped it to the wall (using that scotch mounting tape I was talking about earlier).  Each 4x6 photo I printed I mounted to a piece of black card stock with a 1cm boarder around the edges to polish them off.  I also purchased a roll of pink ribbon from Michael's and cut it at various lengths.  Tape one end of the ribbon to the back of the photo, tape the other end behind the heart, mount the photo to the wall (again with the mounting tape) and voila! You have a photo collage centered around a heart.


Technique #2

Personally, I don't like to leave too much white space on my walls.  This is a great way to display more photos over an archway.  I am particularly proud of this technique because my inspiration for it came from a product I saw at target for $30, and what I made cost next to nothing! I love a good bargain!

I found a silhouette of a bird online and printed it out.  After cutting it out I traced that image onto an empty cereal box twice.  I then cut out both of the birds and painted them with black paint.  I measured a piece of yarn to the length I wished to hang my pictures and taped both ends of the yarn to the two different birds.  I then used the scotch mounting tape (again) to mount the birds to the wall.  The miniature clothespins I used to hang the photos are also from Michael's and can be found in the scrapbook section.  I had them on hand so I can't think of the top of my head how much they cost but it shouldn't be too much.


Technique #3

Want a cork board to collage your photos but can't stand how plain it can be sometimes?  Get cork squares! They come 4 to a pack and can be found practically anywhere.  I got these from Target.  If you're like me though the cork squares are not enough, it still needs more flair.  I looked up embellishments and other types of designs on the internet until I was inspired to create this flower and meandering vine.  I took another trip to Michael's and picked up some green poster board.  I free handed the design and cut it out.  I stuck the vine to the wall with the Scotch Mounting Tape.  Afterwards I cut out the blue flower and black leaves and mounted those on top of those vines.  Ta-da! Easy to post photos and other notes on the cork board but way cuter and more interesting than a few blocks of brown cork on a wall.

~Crafty Girl~