DIY Wall Art for Photos

February is the month for hearts. I have team with other amazing women on projects that showcases something near and dear to our hearts.

For me, my world revolves around God, my husband, children, grandchildren and my two fur babies. I have been wanting to do a DIY project to create a wall hanging for photos of my four grandchildren.

Every time, I see my bare wall, it reminds me “you need to make something for that wall”.

We have been in this house for a year now. The challenge has been what to do with that particular wall on a limited budget. I wanted to spend little to no money on my project.

I went on a treasure hunt in my own home to see what was in the closets, shed or basement. Now, you may not have all of these items on hand. You never know there may be something in the shed or garage that could work.

If you don’t have anything, keep an eye open the next time you are thrifting, face book market place or antiquing. I see vintage wood pieces at markets that could be used to upcycle into something else.

For my project, I remember a piece of wood saved from my antique sideboard. The hutch part of (middle) was removed. I saved the top piece of it. It had such beautiful carvings in the wood.

I decided to upcycle it into a piece of wall art for hanging photos.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. The opinions here are my own.

Supplies

What I found shopping my house:

• Vintage piece from an old sideboard
• A can of Pure White Chalk Paint
• A can of clear wax for adding a protective coat over the chalk paint
• Chalk Painting Brushes
• 3 Lint free cloth (for the clear wax), 1 to apply the wax and 2 to buff
• 2 Heavy Duty D-Rings Picture Hangers
• wooden picture frames (4) your choice (I am using frames that are 5 x 7 that holds 4 x 6 photos
• 4 x 6 photos of your choice (4 photos)
• Brass Plated Screw Eyes (4) (or you can hot glue the ribbon to the back of the frame)
• Screw-in Ceiling Cups Hooks (you will need 4 of them)
• 3/4″ ribbon of choice, minimum of 20 yards (I am using a 3/4″ wired ribbon, any ribbon would work)
• Fine Grit Sanding Block
• Microfiber Cleaning Cloth
• Pencil

Tools

• Measuring Tape
• Scissors for cutting the ribbon
• Canvas Drop Cloth
• Drill to start a pilot hole (optional) using 1/16 drill bit
• Philips Head screw driver for the screws

Let’s Get Started

First, I grabbed my Canvas Drop Cloth cloth from my painting supplies. The canvas drop cloth over your workspace will help to protect it and can be toss in the washer to be reused.

I use a microfiber cleaning cloth just to wipe off any dust and dirt from my vintage.

Painting

The fun part is painting. I find it therapeutic.

The beauty of chalk paint, it’s very forgiving. With the white chalk paint, it will take approximately three coasts to cover.

Start by dipping your Chalk Painting Brush into the can of Pure White Chalk Paint. Begin to work it into the carving (if you have any). You would work in a circular motion to get that paint into the carvings.

If it is a plain piece of wood, paint in the direction of the grain of wood. On the straight flat surface, again paint with the grain of the wood working in small sections at a time.

Add your next coat of paint according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

It took three coats of paint on this vintage piece. Allow the piece to completely dry.

Distressing

I used a fine grit sanding block to distress the piece. Love how the dark wood is coming through and you don’t even need to add dark wax to age it.

Be sure to wiped it off with a microfiber cleaning cloth to make sure the piece is free from any dust particles.

Protecting Your work

With your lint free cloth, dip it into the can of clear wax. A little goes a long way and you will want to give it that layer to protect your project. You will want to rub it into the wood.

Next, you will take a clean lint free cloth and buff off the wax working in small sections at a time.

Remember the Karate Kid Movie, “Wax On, Wax Off”. You will get a good work out here.

After the wax has dried, it is time to flip the vintage wood piece over and drilled pilot holes to attach screws into the wood to hold 2 Heavy Duty D-Rings Picture Hangers.

CREATING ART

You will need four 5 x 7 wooden photo frame and four Brass Plated Screw Eyes.

On the top of each of the frame find the center and insert the screw eye.

Repeat this step for each of the four frames.

The length of your ribbon is going to be a personal preference. For this project, I cut the ribbon into 4 inches in length for two of them; and 4.5 inches in length for the other two.

You will need one piece of ribbon for each frame and leave enough to tie the ribbon into a bow or knot tie it as well.

I tied each of the ribbons into a bow and cut the ends of the ribbons at an angle.

Spacing Out the Frames

This vintage piece was 45 inches long. Each of my frames are 5 inches long. I laid out each frame in a row. My math: 4 frames with 5 spaces (2 spaces on the end and 3 spaces in between each frame) equals 9; 45 inches long divided by 9 = 5 inches. I will end up with 5 inches on each end. Each of the frames are 5 inches and in between each frame would be 5 inches. First, I began making my marks in pencil along the bottom.

Secont, I used my measurements to mark where each of the frame should be placed.

Third, flip the frames the opposite direction just it to find the center. This will be where you will place each of the four (4) cup hooks.

With a drill and a 1/18th drill bit attached and drill a pilot hole to help you to screw the cup hook into the wood.

You will need to screw in each of the cup hooks.

All four cup hooks are screwed in and it’s ready to hang. My side kick Piper is never far from me.

The Final Project

Now the fun part of the project! It’s time to hang the piece on the wall. Adjust any of the ribbons to the length you want it to hang from the hooks.

I place four of my favorite photos of my grandchildren in each frame.

For more inspiration, please follow the links of these amazing women as they showcase something near and dear to their hearts.

Thank you for stopping by my blog.