how to create a fabulous (and cheap) photo collage

A big thank you to all of the participants of my first Fabulous Friday linky party. I really appreciate you taking part and hope that you will link up again this Friday!

A few people had questions about the collage I posted a picture of, so I wanted to do a proper post in case anybody else was interested. Here's the scoop:

I created my collage over a year ago and in its original configuration it was arranged in five rows with ten pictures in each row. I have since taken it apart and done mini configurations throughout my house. I have a row of four on each side of the closet in the laundry room, a smaller rectangular collection in the upstairs hallway and the arrangement in my kitchen as shown in my picture from day 83.

The truth is, it was easy to make and it was CHEAP. Here's how I did it:

1. I printed seventy five 5" x 5" prints at WHCC and put a 1/4" border around them before I sent them off to print. I printed them during their winter print sale with their standard (and beautiful) lustre finish. I put 50 prints on the wall and saved the other 25 so I had extra ones to swap in at a later date.

2. I bought two sheets of white craft foam from Walmart for the backer. I trimmed it down to 4.75" x 4.75" squares. To be honest with you, the cutting job was pretty sad on some of them because the foam core dulled my cutting blade really fast. The good thing is you can't tell because the edges are not flush.

3. I glued the photos to the foam core, stuck two squares of magic tape to the back of each picture and stuck them to the wall. I'm more of a "why measure twice when you can cut right now" kind of girl so I basically took a guess at centre and used the level app on my iPod to place the first picture. From there I placed the pictures one by one, periodically checking to make sure I was still level and eyeballed the placement keeping a 1/4" gap between the pictures.

Total cost? $12 in prints and $6 in foam core.

Here's what it looked like in its original configuration (not a photo but a computer mock-up I did at the time):



So steal away! Although I've done similar collages for my walls in the past, I can't take credit for this one. It was an idea I first saw on the Paisless Press blog. If you scroll down in her post you can find a free clipping mask template that she was kind enough to post. You can use it to setup your pictures.

Enjoy and good luck!

Comments

4 Lettre Words said…
LOVE it...and what a creative way to do it. Thank you!
Carlynn said…
What a great idea.
Simply Colette said…
What a cool idea! Thanks for sharing!

-nicolette

http://www.simplycolette.blogspot.com
http://www.photographygetaways.com
Mari said…
I love it! Great idea!