Collage of Prints

One of my most popular posts so far this year has been about framed collages on your wall. 

http://littlecovedesign.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/frame-your-blank-wall-collage-of-frames.html

I have had a collage of this sort planned with some old frames for my daughters' room. So my school holiday project is complete and I can finally share this with you!

This is a really easy, effective and can be an inexpensive way to decorate a blank wall.  You can inject your own personality into it by the frames and items you select to frame.

Firstly I took the tired old frames I had, and layed them out on the floor with other frames I intended on using for my wall. 

I removed the glass and pictures from the frames and then I gave each frame a light sand with medium to fine sandpaper and then it was time to give them a paint.  I used dulux one coat white and then I used acrylic paint to mix up a light blue and pink colour for some of the frames.  I painted two coats to cover the previous timber/black frames but they still have a rustic look with the previous colour showing through in the grooves.

 

I also had picked up an mdf "dream" word cutout from Spotlight which I painted the same blue as two of the frames. I measured the wall space and the frames to ensure my final arrangement would fit.  I bought a window box frame from Myer on sale woohoo! for the dream word cut out, and a few smaller ornate frames from Big W to fill in the gaps. 

 

 

The next most time consuming part was selecting photos of my daughters to fill the frames (too many to choose from!) and then using scrapbooking paper and matts for the backgrounds and surrounds. 

 

 

 

I used a butterfly cookie cutter to make the butterfly motifs from scrapbooking paper for the window box frame, and double sided tape to secure the word cutout and butterflies.

 

 

 

You can then arrange your frames on the floor or cut out paper the size of each frame and blue tac on the wall (as in my previous blog post on the subject) to confirm their location prior to putting hooks in the wall.

 

 

I made some last minute changes as I hung my frames on the wall, but this is the finished product.  Make sure you use the correct hook types for the type of wall and frames you are hanging. 

 

My hardest critics were the girls but they are very happy with their photo wall!  So if you've got some old frames lying around put them to good use or donate them to a charity store and someone else may spruce them up.