You know you need to update the pictures in your house when your 21 month old goes around pointing at all of the pictures of herself and saying "Baby Khloe".... I think it happens to all of us. When the kids are first born, we're constantly updating the pictures in the house, but as time goes by... not so much.
I do have to say, I've been good at keeping up with taking pictures, just not printing them. I still take monthly pictures of her for her yearly photo books. I'll have to show you last year's photo book sometime.
Anywho... I needed to update the pictures in the house and I also wanted to update the wall above my piano. I've been working the last couple months to finally make my living room into a place I love. I painted the trim and made new curtains here and updated my entry table here and here. I have a few more things to check off the list in this room before it feels right to me, but I'm getting there.
My piano area looked like this.
I would really really really love to re-do the piano some how... still thinking it through.
I had a bunch of blank canvases lying around the house, so I decided to do one of those fancy shmancy photo canvas collages that I've seen on Pinterest.
I've used 2 different methods in the past for making photo canvases. In Khloe's nursery, I put my maternity photos on canvases using Mod Podge and they still look great about 2 years later.
In our hallway, I used photo mounting spray.... epic fail. The edges started peeling up not even a month after I made them.
So, we're going back to Mod Podge for this one.
I gathered all of my supplies-
- Photos
- Canvases
- Mod Podge
- Foam Brush
- Command Strips
- Level
I used (1) 16x20, (2) 8x10 and (6) 5x7 canvases. I had my picture printed at Sam's Club for $12!! They have great prices on enlargements.
I laid out my canvases to decide how I wanted to arrange my collage.
Then I started Mod Podging. Put a pretty thick, even coat of Mod Podge on the canvas, put the picture down on top and smooth out any air pockets just using your hands. Then flip the canvas over so the pressure is holding the picture in place. For the biggest canvas, I put some books on the corners to hold put more pressure on it while it dried.
I let that dry while Khloe and I watched 1 episode of Sheriff Callie... 30 minutes. :)
While I had them turned upside down, I went ahead and trimmed off any parts of the picture that over-hung the canvas.
Once I did that, I flipped them over and put a coat of Mod Podge right on top of the picture and all over the sides. This is basically sealing it to the canvas. Your picture will look a little hazy when you first put on the Mod Podge, but no worries, it dries clear. But still allows you to see the brushstrokes, making it look more like a real photo canvas. I tried to capture it in this photo.
Let them sit until dry and then they're ready to hang. When making a collage, a level will be your best friend. Once I secured the middle picture, I just worked off of it to keep everything level.
5 down, 4 to go!
After they were all hung, my little climber had to sneak into a picture.
I hung them a bit too high over the piano, so there was a lot of open space between them and the piano. So, I decided to make a quick pallet board sign to fill in. I'm glad I did, it adds a little something that was lacking.
Happy Summering!!
-Brooke
