How to make an inexpensive photo collage

This is a great inexpensive way to hang a multitude of pictures without breaking the bank.  I told you we have had years of taking many photos and then they just end up sitting on a bunch of discs–what good is that going to do??  So I decided to get some printed off.  Walmart had a great deal $.09 a photo and free shipping to home, at that time.  I chose all the pictures I wanted and got some black and white and some colors printed off on matte paper.

I then headed to the dollar store and bought some foam core board—One board will hold 54 pictures.  I originally bought some foam core at Hobby Lobby they were $6 a board.  Then I realized that the Dollar Store had them for $1.  After using these from the Dollar Store, they seem to be sturdier.  The only difference is that the Dollar Store ones have a white edge where you can see the foam.  I thought of using permanent black marker to color it in, but I will wait and see if I really even notice it on the walls.

Grab some Modge Podge–the larger bottle (16oz) about $8 and a foam brush.


.  One big bottle did  5 foam core boards full of pictures.

Pick up some double sided tape as well, which will help in placing your pictures, I ran out halfway through the project and ended up using glue stick to hold the photos on and that worked just as fine.

First thing I did was make a cardstock template of a 3×3 inch square.  I used that and cut out over 500 photos for my home. Did I tell you that I haven’t done anything with our family pictures for the last 8 years???

If you have some sort of photo cutter that would be easier to cut, then by all means do that.  Your photos need to be a 3×3 inch square.

Once you have them cut out, now it is time to place them on your foam core.  You can use the double sided sticky tape or use a glue stick, if you work quickly.  I set out my whole first row and got 9 across.  I made sure that they were somewhat evenly spaced.  Then I went down and did a row of 6, making sure they were evenly spaced.  Once I had those two done then it was time to fill in the gaps.

Next you take your Modge Podge and brush on a thin layer covering completely all of your photos.  I know what you are thinking—“Its going to ruin my photos!”  Trust me it won’t.

Try and brush your strokes in the same direction.  When it is dry you will be able to see the brush strokes, it looks more uniform if they are all going in the same direction.

You can let it dry,  takes about 1/2 hour to 1 hour to dry.  Then do another layer over top of it.

When it is completely dry, you are ready to hang.  I used velcro pieces to hang on my walls.  It is my favorite new way to hang things.  It doesn’t leave a mark on the wall wen you remove them.

Yes lots of pictures, but what good are those pictures going to do sitting on a disc??? .

It would probably be neat to mix up some of the photos and do mostly black and white with a few color ones in it.  I personally think the black and white look more uniform, but I really do like the look of the colors as well.  Won’t have to make any more until next years photo discs are full.  Probably going to need some more wall space as well:)