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Decorating With Family Photos

DIY decorating with an old picture frame for border and family photos

Happy New Year everyone!
I made only one resolution for 2015, to do better. I know it may seem like a rather broad concept but I know myself and I don't do well with specific goals in my personal life. I decided that every day there is at least one thing I can do better. Some days it might be small things like taking out the garbage before it overflows and the coffee grounds spill all over the floor, hang up my coat, eat more veggies, read more books, make more homemade jam...you get it, right? Then there will be those days that I will have an opportunity to make a difference in a life. It may seem like a small gesture but all of us need more kindness in our day. Maybe smile at a stranger, share a Bible verse, share a meal, tell someone thank you. Who knows? So that's it...do better every day.
My new year starts with organizing, cleaning out and of course more DIY projects! I finished a project yesterday and I have to share it. It began 7 years ago when we moved into our new house. Since day one, I have had a vision of a family photo arrangement above the sofa. So my first project of the new year began two days ago and today my vision is on the wall!

The Family Photo Wall Journey:
My husband painted the living room, dining room and kitchen a light gray color a couple of months ago. I had some wildlife prints on my walls but I wasn't feeling it for this space. So for two months we have had bare walls so I could plan the journey to complete my vision.

I started with an old, chunky, somewhat warped frame that was headed for donation land when I had an idea to highlight the detail on the frame. It was so dusty that I needed to clean it with a damp rag first. Then I wanted to dry brush it with some white paint. I started with a cheap, sponge paint brush (about an inch wide) and poured some white acrylic paint on a piece of cardboard so I could lightly dip my dry paint brush into the paint. I used a paper towel to wipe off any excess paint from the brush and painted lightly over the top of the frame. Within 15 minutes I was done with that step. Depending on the effect you like, you can always apply more paint.
Large frame - before painting

Frame details before painting

Frame after the dry brush painting
My next step was to measure the inside of the frame. I needed to know the size of frames and how many frames would fit in my larger empty frame. I planned to use the empty frame to border my family photos. So I needed 6 frames (8x10). The actual frames measured 10x12 inches. I also knew that I wanted to use 5x7 photos and I wanted white, white, white. I bought 6 white frames with white matting at Michael's (buy one get one free sale).

I probably should have started with this step but I didn't pick my photos until the end. Seriously, I spent 3 hours of my life going through my digital pictures which almost sent me over the edge - ha ha!! I edited the pictures because I didn't want color, I used the black and white setting and printed them on glossy photo paper using my printer. They turned out beautifully and each special photo was now at home in it's own frame.

We centered and hung the large frame first. Of course I would have chosen to "eyeball" the placement of the framed pictures and started pounding the nails but my carpenter husband had to use the tape measure. So after many measurements (which I lost interest in after the first measurement), we eventually had our 6 beautiful family photos on the wall!

Family photo arrangement complete in living room


Enjoy today!
Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi
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