So I have officially been in the city for more than a year now! I’m still in the process of adding a few custom touches to my apartment, which includes some DIY projects. I have a ton of photos I’d love to hang, but the thought of putting holes in the wall truly make me nervous for when it comes time to move out. Instead, I found a fun budget-friendly option that didn’t put too much strain on the wall. Super irrelevant, but here are some pictures of my bedding since I’ve moved in:

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Before I head to crafting stores, I always check the local dollar store. You can almost always find a less expensive alternative here, whether glue, paper, faux flowers, candles, jars… we could go on. This time I needed something to hang up some pictures I had printed from my phone. I started off with twine and white, glittered clothespins, hanging them in three rows on the wall. After a few weeks, even after adding lights, I decided it looked nothing like the version I saw on Pinterest and decided to create my own design.

Back to the dollar store. After digging for a few minutes, I was able to find photo frames in various sizes that all had the same plain black border. I was going to make my own collective frame on a budget. Here’s how I did it.

Step 1 – Print your photos in various sizes, and put them in the frames. Super simple. You might have to get creative and add two smaller photos to one larger frame to fit the size or cut them down based off of what is available at the store, but you’ll find a way to make it work.

Step 2 – Lay out the design BEFORE you start making holes in the wall. Figure out how you want to stack the frames based on landscape vs. portrait orientation, size, and importance of the images.

Step 3 – Grab your hammer, tacks, nails… whatever you feel comfortable using to hang them up. For the most part, I used the tacks. I had to use some of the twine along with a screw for a few frames that I did end up dropping and breaking. A quick tape job put them back together. Trial and error!

TIP – If you’re the furthest thing from Bob the Builder like me, you’ll have a tough time lining up the hook on the back of the frame with where you want the frame in relation to the others. This is where laying out the frames on your bed or floor first will come in handy.

Step 4 – Take a step back. It was a little crooked at first, but after some minor adjustments and tilting, it didn’t come out too bad. Take a look at the final project with my new summer bedding!

Do you have any DIY tips and tricks? I’d love to know.

 

Until next time…

-Jae Marie