What You Will Need:
*Engineering Prints
*Insulation Foam Board
*Acid Free Spray Glue (I used Photo Mount)
*White or Black Paint - for those of you wishing to paint the sides instead of do a "canvas wrap"- DO NOT USE SPRAY PAINT!!!
*Exacto Knife
*Large Plastic Table Cloth
*Clean Microfiber Cloth
*Poster No-Damage Wall Hangers
I first saw this idea on Pinterest and thought I would put my own spin on it and give it a try. Using the photos from our pics taken last year by a family friend, I used photo editing to crop and size the pics to the size I wanted for my wall(s). This took the most time, because I didn't know exactly which photos I wanted to use. After cropping the photos as such, I made a copy of them onto my flash drive and made a note of the sizes I wanted. I then took a trip over to our local Staples, where I asked for the pictures to be printed as Engineering Prints. Please note that Engineering Prints are NOT photo quality and are similar to newspaper. They also cannot make them in color, so before taking your photos to be printed by them turn them to black and white! For the four photos it was about $14... about $3.50 per print. I then drove on over to our local Lowes and bought one of their large pieces of blue insulation foam. This was about $11 and can be cheaper or more expensive depending on the foam you buy. The more expensive stuff is firmer and makes a nicer cut, which I definitely think is worth the extra money in the long run. Once home, you will want to do this outside or in the garage. If planning to do this inside, make sure you have a large enough work space and an old plastic table cloth underneath you so nothing gets ruined from the spray glue.
Now lets get started...
1. Lay the photo out on the insulation foam board and measure where you would like it to go. If you want to wrap your photo around the edges for that "wrapped canvas look" make sure to leave at least three inches of overhang. If you rather paint the edges and not have it wrapped, just skip to #3.
2. Cut out your foam board with the exacto knife. You will want to go slowly and make some shallow cuts at first and then go deeper with the second and third cuts until the foam board gives way. If you are painting, cut carefully with the line of your picture.
3. Line up your picture and then carefully spray the foam board with your spray glue. Make sure to not go too heavy on the spray glue, or it will seep through to your picture and cause a mess and bubbles.
4. Carefully and slowly, roll out your picture. Using a clean microfiber cloth, softly smooth out the picture onto the insulation board until it is all glued down and smooth.
5. If you are painting the edges, skip back up to #2 and then proceed to 5B.
A) For those of you wrapping your photos, you will want to use your best gift wrapping experience. Try to get the edges laying flat and wrap the photo around the board to the back. Once you have the desired creases and know which way you are folding things, spray glue around the edge of the back of the board and start pressing down your photo until all the edges are flat and your photos are complete and ready to hang.
B) Painters! DO NOT USE SPRAY PAINT! Spray paint will eat the foam board and you will not only have a big mess, but you will have to go buy more foam and start the project all over! Okay, now paint the edges by hand. This is the most time consuming, but once it is finished it looks SO nice. You will need to be careful and do a few coats, but once you are done let it dry and walla! Your pics are ready to hang on the wall.
6. To hang these, all it takes are the poster no damage wall hangers. You can find them at Walmart, Target, or K-Mart. Follow the directions on the packaging and hang where you desire.
