Picture Collage

I’ve been planning to do a picture collage for a while. I posted some inspiration in this post on my old blog.

It all began when I picked up these seven frames at a church garage sale for $2.75.

$2.75!

What a deal!

I also picked up a large poster frame from Meijer with a black and white print and mat for free!

I had a coupon for $20 off any purchase, and all three items were on clearance for less than $20 total!

First I experimented with the organization of the frames. I set them out on the floor and just moved them around until I found one I liked.

Then I used this technique I found on Young House Love to visualize how the collage would look on the wall.

Now let’s make those frames look good!

I knew I was going to spray paint the frames, but I had a hard time picking the color. I was torn between white and black.

I know, I know, I walk on the wild side.

I ended up picking white because I wanted to fill the frames with black and white pictures. Also I want to paint the walls at some point. The walls are bright and fun right now, but I have visions on light grey to make a peaceful room.

I plan to add pops of color in a lamp, pillow covers, and curtains. Whoa! One step at a time!

I used Valspar spray paint. I lightly sanded all of the frames to make sure the paint would stick. I only had trouble with the large Meijer frame which was not real wood. The paint did not stick too well. I’m still figuring out how to fix it.

In hindsight, I should have primed then painted. It took 3 coats of paint to cover the frames. You can see how well the first coat covered in the photos below.

After two more coats, things were looking muck better…

Time for the big reveal!

Above the couch before:

During…

After…

The picture makes the collage look too small on the wall. While it could be bigger, it doesn’t look too small in person.

Now for some close ups!

Have you done anything crafty lately? Have you finished a project you’ve been working on for months? Do share!