Thursday, June 10, 2010

thrifty thursday ~ wooden photo collage


Have you seen those cool 7Gypsies Artist's trays that are so neat?? You can see a bunch of examples here. I've been wanting one for a loooong time but I didn't want to spend the 20 bucks (+ shipping). Yes, I'm cheap. I rather prefer to call myself thrifty :)

So I've been on the hunt for something similar that I could fix up to use for my photo collage. Then I came upon this little beauty at the thrift store a couple weeks ago:
Jackpot!!! Not sure what this thing was used for or how old it is but it was exactly what I was looking for. And the best part?? It was just 4 bucks! 

I decided that I wanted my collage to be about summer photos. And wouldn't you know it, my Noel Mignon kit arrived just yesterday filled with all kinds of summer goodies. Perfect!!!

First I painted the tray white. Since I was using fun, bright summer papers I wanted the tray to lighten up, too. But I didn't want it to look all white so after 3 coats of spray paint (my new best decorating friend) I sanded the edges up a bit for that distressed look. Then I set out to trim papers & photos to fit in all the little squares. Because this tray is who-knows-how-old all of the squares weren't quite the same size and I had to do quite a bit of trimming here and there. That's ok. It's unique, right?!

And since I was using fun and bright papers & embellishments, I decided to print my photos in black and white so that they would stand out a bit and not compete with the papers.
I am so happy with how it turned out! I popped up some of the embellishments with foam adhesive and added some butterflies along the outside for added interest. I also popped up a few of the photos...I used 4 foam squares to really make them stand out.
You can see how the photo of my son is a lot further forward than the photo of my daughter. I like the look that gives to the collage.



And when it came to how to hang this, I added a simple drawer handle that I picked up at the store for 5 bucks (for the pair). I'll use the other one in another project I'm sure. The handle adds some visual interest and I can either keep this collage on a table or add a ribbon and hang it on the wall. I attached it with Gorilla Glue because the screws would show through so we'll see how long that holds...I'll let ya know!


I will be linking up to:
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giveaways
Happy thrifting!!!
Photobucket

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

nice!!
love your crispy looking blog!
J

Kim's Treasures said...

OMG!!!! I LOVE THIS!!!!

Linh C. said...

Hi,

I'm new to your blog, and I just ADORE this project! It's the inspiration I need right now to finish decorating a cute-little-wooden-thingy-with-compartments that I picked up at a thrift store.

Gina said...

What a creative lady you are!
Love your Blog!!!!!!!
:)

Sasha "sweet thang" Holloway said...

LOVE this .. I have one sort of similar (but smaller) that I have yet to alter and you have so inspired me to get going it .. LOVE LOVE this ..

Turned out fab girl.

Nicole said...

I've been a lurker here for sometime. I just LOVE your blog, your thrity finds and your creativity! Thanks so much for sharing it all! This is an absolutely fabulous project! I am definitely doing one of these, thanks so much for the inspiration.

Cheryl B. said...

Very nice, I am soooooooooo doing this for our lake house. I can't wait to go to the flea market tomorrow and start searching. You have the BEST ideas, thanks for sharing.

Brenda said...

Super CUTE! I love it! Thanks for sharing! Your blog is wonderful!

Come join the fun! I'm celebrating sweet treats with a giveaway on my blog!

So nice to meet you!
Love, Brenda

ellie g said...

That is SO SERIOUSLY CUTE! I love it. I think the white and the papers and the photos are all completely WOW! That thing was just begging to be made cute....and I think you answered it's plea! Yay you!

Green Eyed Girl Crafts said...

What a brilliant idea! I love it! Vicki

Lessons Learned said...

oh my goodness I absolutely LOVE this!

Mara Campbell said...

I am officially IN LOVE with your tray!!!! It's absolutely gorgeous, you did an amazing job with this. Beautiful!!

Yanet @ 3 Sun Kissed Boys said...

What a super cute and creative idea!

shortmama said...

I adore it!

Tricia said...

I can't even tell you how much I LOVE this! I have a box sadly sitting in my basement that MUST get a similar treatment!! Thank you so much for sharing.

XO*Tricia

Unknown said...

This is just the cutest thing EVER! I adore this in everyway, way to go, and thanks for the inspiration. Jenn

Jill said...

This is awesome! I have a tray that I"m trying to figure out what to do with. Every wednesday I post an item on my blog for readers to suggest what to do with it, this week it's my tray. I thought I knew what I wanted to do, but now I might have to reconsider!

~JILL @ envirocraft.blogspot.com

Kari Sweeten said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kari Sweeten said...

This is a "WOW" tutorial!!! Amazing and I LOVE everything about it!

Anonymous said...

So cute!!!

Amber Mann said...

This is so pretty! It looks like an old printer's tray, but all spiffed up and coordinated.

Linda T said...

I love this! Now to be lucky enough to find one of these - I'm too cheap to pay full price for it!

Jax @ AlyandAsh said...

this is gorgeous I love it!

crazysox said...

absolutely fabulous!!

petrified in pink (Petra) said...

Love, love, love this project and everything about it, your colour choices are so gorgeous. Would you mind if I borrowed some of your photos to show on my blog (it's in Swedish) with a link to your blog?

Wishing you a great Friday and a lovely weekend!

Courtney said...

This is gorgeous. I just bought the same thing the other day at a thrift store!

Tracie B said...

I love this I am going to have to find a cool tray now! What a great idea. :)

Megan said...

wow, michelle! I can't believe you were featured on UCreate! I saw the title of the blog and I was like... is that??? And it was! Wow, you're a blog celebrity! <3

megan

Heather M. said...

Beautiful! Also, looks like the tray maybe an old type tray for letterpress?

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

That is so pretty! I have two printers trays I scored on ebay. This would be perfect!

Noor said...

this is a favourite!! i truly admire your work!

Jess said...

Fabulous project! Love all the great details like popped up elements and delicate butterflies on the outside!

quilter said...

They were bragging about you on Bean Talk--I had to come and see. I luv your tray--I bought a new one to do and am afraid I'll mess it up--so haven't started it. Thanks for the inspiration.

dawn said...

WOW!! This is beautiful, love all the summer colors and everything pops and looks great together. I just got this idea a few weeks ago and did mine too. I didn't think of painting it though will do that next time. I think this is such a fun project for everyone. Thanks for sharing.

NatQuebec said...

oohhhh wowo it's so wonderful, colorful and nice ! I love it !!!

Kristen S said...

Wow! What a great project! The best news is that I have one of those nifty little trays that I used as a child to collect glass collectible animals. Woohoo! What a great summer project for me!

mommy2luke2008 said...

This is just beautiful!! I'm going to scouring the thrift stores to find a tray like this!!
I am featuring this on my friday favorites http://www.lilbitofus.blogspot.com Sorry I don't have a direct link, but I'm scheduling it today to post for tomorrow and I wanted to know I was featuring this!

Amanda said...

I LOVE this what a great idea!!!!

Canadaland said...

I'm so excited! I saw this in June and fell in love with it, but never thought i would ever find one of those thingy's. But I was at the DI the other day and I totally found one for $0.50! I can't wait to make it as cute as yours...hopefully. Thanks for the inspriation so that when i saw that thingy at the DI...I knew exactly what to do with it.

Noel said...

**AWESOME!**

Anonymous said...

Tooo cute!!!!!!!!!! I so want to do one of these!!

Steph @ somewhatsimple said...

I love this idea! I will be featuring this next Thursday!

Unknown said...

I will be on the hunt for one of these all summer now! You did a fantastic job! I have added this post to my linky laundry list post this week. You can see it here.

http://literallyinspired.blogspot.com/2011/05/linky-laundry-list-2.html

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