Adding photos to the decor of any celebration is so fun and makes the event so personal. This weekend, my family hosted a bridal shower for my niece. As part of the shower decor, we displayed photos of the future bride and groom. The event was in a restaurant, so I needed to be creative about how to display about 25 photos!
FRAMES
I wanted the photos to have a finished look, but didn’t want to spend a lot on frames. I found inexpensive frames at the dollar store. The frames held 4×6 photos, but the frames themselves were different sizes. We chose a variety metal frames – gold, silver and copper. I removed the backs and covered them with pretty paper. I laid these out in a pattern to alternate the different types of frames. Number the photos with the tower and placement in the tower. (You’ll thank me later)
PHOTO STAND
Since there wasn’t a place at the venue to hang the photos, I built stands to display the photos.
MATERIALS
(1) 1 x 10 x 8 (bottom of base)
(1) 1 x 6 x 8 (middle section of base)
(1) 1 x 4 x 8 (top of base)
(1) 1 x 3 x 8 (base feet)
(3) 2 x 2 x 8 (center pole)
(2) 2 inch outside corner trim
Miter saw
Nailer
Wood glue
Paint sprayer
Primer
Paint
The pole (2 x 2) is 4 ft tall so I cut each 2 x 2 x 8 in half. Each of the pieces of the base were cut to the same length as the width of the board. (I.e. – the 10 inch wide board was cut to 10 inches in length to get a square) Similarly, the feet of the base, were 3 x 3 blocks. The shelves to sit the photos are 3 inches long.
I screwed the pole into the center of the top piece of the base and attached the feet to the 10 x 10 piece of the base using glue and the nailer. I nailed/ glued the middle piece to the top piece and the bottom to middle piece. I laid down the photos on the stands to measure where each of the photos would sit. I attached the trim in the correct location using adhesive. I sanded everything and caulked the areas where the boards met each other.
Since I have a paint sprayer, I applied prime and paint with the sprayer. I used gold paint which was very thick. I thinned 3 times before it went through the sprayer easily.
I used small (1 inch) pieces of double sided foam tape to ensure the photos did not tip forward.
In the end, these stands were placed on the table with the bridal gifts. (See feature picture.) These really added a great feature to the table.
