DIY Photoboard

There is a whole lot of beautiful white space in our home.  Which I love, but some areas are just calling out for wall coverings.  I wanted to put up lots of family pictures and discovered frames are expensive.  Someone suggested going to Goodwill for picture frames, which was brilliant, except that it required way too many variables for a girl who is stressing out about putting things on the wall and having it look good.

I stumbled across the idea for a photoboard and was sold.  It covers a large amount of space, adds some color, displays lots and lots of memories, is easy to assemble, and is CHEAP! When we move I will pull everything off the board and throw away the foam –  no fancy packing required.  I didn’t have the same resources available as my inspiration, so I made up my own with what I could find.

Supplies:

• 4×8 Insulating sheet (we got this one from Home Depot) – $12.76
• Twin Sized Flat Sheet (Walmart – I went back four different times to exchange the sheets I bought to get the right color) – $4.97
• Applique Pins (I got two of these from Walmart) – $2.36
• Thumbtacks (from Walmart) – $.98
• 100 Photos (I used Groovebook) – $2.99
• 4 1 inch screws

Total: $24.06 = the cost of 2 8×10 picture frames at Walmart. Not bad for covering a 3.5×7 foot area!

Directions:

1. Cut the 4×8 sheet down to the size you want.  I choose 3.5 x 7 feet for our dimensions which fit well above our couch.  I measured 12″ from the end on the top and bottom, put a push pin in the board at those locations and tied a string between them to create a straight edge. A x-acto knife cut through with a few passes. I measured 6″ in for the next cut.

2. Tape around the cut edge with packing tape to prevent further little pieces catching and coming off.  This step may be optional, I made it up as I went along.

3. Wash and iron your sheet.  Lay it out flat on the floor and put the board down flat and centered.  Using thumbtacks I pinned the long sides first.  I then folded the corners and created triangles along the short sides, and pinned the rest flat.  There is no right way to pin the sheet on; just keep it tight.  No one will ever look at the back.  I don’t have pictures because I did it during Emily’s nap time and barely finished when she woke up.

4. Arrange your pictures on the board.  I went through a few different variations before I settled on one I liked.  This part actually took me about a week.  I put an applique pin on each corner and it stays on just fine.

5. Cut a small slit in the sheet and screw the board into the wall, making sure it put it in a stud.  I hid the screws behind the pictures which turned out to be a really good idea because the screws were even more ugly than I thought they would be.