HO-LEE COW, internet friends. It is almost half-way through October and I swear that time is flying by faster than ever. I'm in my last semester of undergrad and I am in this weird state of denial/disbelief/panic that I'm graduating in a matter of months. The workload is insane, the impending job search is daunting, and the emotional weight of it all is surprising! After posting a bouquet of flowers mentioning a recent "emotional breakdown," I talked with my best friend who said, "This always happens senior year! I cried all the time!" So if you've been there, or you're there now, I empathize! ♥♥
A couple of weeks ago, another friend recruited me to help with one of her best friend's upcoming baby shower. She wanted to put together a photo display of the baby girl's parents, and had bought a cheapy trifold from the drug store. We tried decorating it, but the longer it sat in my apartment, the more I hated it, so I started over.
Stuff You'll Need: Bulletin Board, Push Pins & Thumbtacks, Yarn, Mini Clothespins, Washi Tape, White & Patterned Cardstock, Double-sided Tape/Tape Runner, Paper Trimmer, Wooden Hearts, White Paint, Foam Brush, Sequins, Glue
I snagged the bulletin board on sale at Hobby Lobby for $10 -- score! I had everything else on hand, which made this fun, cheap, and pretty easy! Most of the photos were old school 4x6 prints from film; remember those days? ;) I left a few as originals, but scanned most into my computer to crop and resize them (often old film photos mean a lot of poor composition). I printed them as 2 photos per piece of 4x6 photo paper, with a small white border. I double matted the 4x6 photos on white cardstock, then patterned cardstock. I pulled all the patterned paper from my scrap pile. Since the 2x3 photos had the white border, I only needed to mat them on the patterned paper.
Decorate the tops of your mini clothespins with 2 little strips of patterned washi tape. For decorative touches, glue some wooden hearts onto flat, metal thumbtacks with E6000 glue and let them dry. Once they're dry, use your foam brush to paint the hearts white. I also glued sequins to push pins (groups of three worked best) and let them dry.
Dry-fit the photos on the board, then stick a plastic push pin at the end of each photo grouping. String yarn from thumbtack to thumbtack (more taut than loose), and start adding your photos with the clothespins. You will probably need to adjust the yarn once your photos are added. You will want the board vertical at this point, so the photos can hang. Adjust your yarn and knot it onto the thumbtacks. Wrap the excess yarn around the thumbtacks, and either glue the end in place, or tuck it under the thumbtack.
Once you have all your photos on the board, start filling the empty spaces with hearts, sequins, and details! I printed out "Welcome Baby" and the baby's parents' names on white cardstock (the font is "Happy Phantom"). "Welcome" and "Baby" are double-matted on solid and patterned cardstock, and the names are matted on just patterned cardstock, with the "&" stuck onto a pink washi tape covered wooden heart. The "Welcome Baby" pieces are stuck to the top of the frame with glue dots, and the names are pinned on using push pins.
The bottom corner has photos of the sonogram and an adorable pregnancy photo, with the baby's name printed, matted, and pinned to the board! I love how it turned out, and more importantly, the board was a hit at the shower! The baby's parents are planning to put the board in the baby's room, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't think that was pretty bossy. ;)
What do you think? Have you made photo display boards for a party before? I may or may not have had four giant trifold boards at my grad party...
I love this idea! So cute!
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