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:
Join  us Saturdays at tatertotsandjello.com for the weekend wrap up party!

giveaways
Happy thrifting!!!
Photobucket

43 comments:

  1. nice!!
    love your crispy looking blog!
    J

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  2. 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.

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

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  4. 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.

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  5. 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.

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  6. 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.

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  7. 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

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  8. 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!

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  9. oh my goodness I absolutely LOVE this!

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

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  11. 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

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

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  13. 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

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

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

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

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  18. 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!

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

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

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  21. 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

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

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

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

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

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  26. 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.

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  27. 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.

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

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  29. 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!

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  30. 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!

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  31. I LOVE this what a great idea!!!!

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  32. 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.

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

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

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  35. 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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