When it comes to modern parties, everyone has a cell phone in hand ready to capture beautiful selfies and group shots to post on the ‘gram. If you’re in charge of the next bridal shower, birthday bash, or Mother’s Day photo session, glam up the photo booth area with a floral frame you can DIY to fit any party vibe. The ornate pattern of the Aurora frame is the perfect base for this DIY floral project that guests can hold and be the center of attention… literally. Read on to discover more tips, tricks, and inspiring alternatives to make this photo booth worthy of all the likes.
This frame screams modern vintage with the intricate pattern and aged paint application making it the perfect space for floral accents. The 1 3/8” width of this regal frame allows for some space to add accessories but you still might need a little extra surface space.
First, rack your brain for those geometry skills and create two right triangles from heavyweight cardboard. Flip your frame over and use hot glue to adhere them in two opposite corners of the frame.
Next, pop the heads and leaves off the stem set.
Many of these flowers will come off easily and intact but they are not always flat due to the hard centers. If yours are dimensional flowers, like these, punch a hole in the cardboard where you can insert the flowers.
Use hot glue to adhere these flowers in the holes on the cardboard. We chose 3 floral clusters in one corner and 2 on the other.
Finally, spend some time layering the leaves under the flowers to cover any of the cardboard pieces that were exposed and add some greenery to the frame.
Remember: just because you have more, doesn’t mean you have to use it all! Do what looks best to your eye, not what’s in your supply!
Tip: Don’t cover up too much of the frame on the sides to allow adequate space for guests to handle the frame with ease and not wrinkle the accessories.
Using a rectangular shaped frame allows for a photo booth that is both horizontal for two friends or vertical for single selfies.
Optional: If your venue is outdoors of you have access to an overhead beam or rail, consider hanging this frame so guests walk up to it for photos versus holding it in their hands.
About The Author
Tara Nehil is author of SpotOfTeaDesigns.com, a lifestyle blog sharing home décor, crafts, party inspiration and parenting lessons learned the hard way. Her graphic design background is evident in the home she lives in and styles with her husband of 8 years and 2 young daughters. Follow her creative journey for photo tutorials, printables, budget-friendly decorating tips and ways to celebrate occasions big and small.
Vertical Succulent Garden
March 17, 2021
Love the look of an indoor garden but have a black thumb? Create your own Vertical Succulents Garden to bring a little greenery indoors without the worry of killing another plant. Succulents naturally grow in dry, desert areas but when they’re of the faux variety, you can care for them in any environment. The brilliant colors and unique designs of your succulent assortment are bound to stand out inside the natural wood detailing of the Holden picture frame. The 1 ¼” moulding creates a border around this rainbow of ornamental plants making it the perfect wall accessory to liven up your office space!
To create this DIY Vertical Succulents Garden Frame, first, use a serrated knife to cut your foam sheet to fit within your frame. Use hot glue to secure in place.
Arrange your succulent plants within this framed space in your desired arrangement. If they’re colorful, consider creating an ombre rainbow effect! Insert these into the foam, using more hot glue to secure.
Don’t feel like you need to cover the full space. Attach dried moss to any exposed areas to cover the foam and create a dessert oasis effect to your frame.
To hang, attach the sawtooth hanger to the back of the frame and display it in your office space!
Now when you’re stuck working the good old 9 to 5 in your cold office environment, you can look over and admire a little bit of the outdoors in your newly created vertical succulents garden.
About The Author
Tara Nehil is author of SpotOfTeaDesigns.com, a lifestyle blog sharing home décor, crafts, party inspiration and parenting lessons learned the hard way. Her graphic design background is evident in the home she lives in and styles with her husband of 8 years and 2 young daughters. Follow her creative journey for photo tutorials, printables, budget-friendly decorating tips and ways to celebrate occasions big and small.
How to Create an Eclectic Gallery Wall
March 10, 2021
There is just something so charming about a gallery wall. They fill a wall unlike anything else and tell a story about the people that live there. Gallery walls come in many different styles. The ones that have captivated people’s attention the most are eclectic; using varying styles of art, frames, and sizes. A curated collection of art that appears to have been carefully added to over time. Today I’m going to share with you how to create an eclectic gallery wall of your own.
Gather Inspiration
Maybe you have some existing framed art that you want to include in your gallery wall, or maybe you’re starting completely from scratch. Either way, you’ll want to gather some inspiration for how you want your wall to come together. Pinterest is always a great place to start your search. Create a board with galleries that pique your interest and refer back to them when looking for art, frames, and layout ideas.
Try-on Session
One of my favorite ways to figure out a new look for my home is to “try it on”. Take a photo of the wall you want to add a gallery to and upload it to a photo editing website, app, or program that will allow you to layer additional photos on top. Personally, I like to use Picmonkey.com for this.
First, upload a photo of your wall to the photo editor. Next, take screenshots of art and picture frames that catch your eye. Refer back to your inspiration photos so you can play with different layouts. Now, layer art and frame screenshots onto the photo, adjusting size and position until you find a layout you love. This will help you visualize how the art will work together and what style of frames are best for your space.
If you want to visualize it even more (I always do), you can make paper templates to help nail down your exact frame measurements. I used wrapping paper for my templates. The backside of the wrapping paper had grids which made this even easier. Kraft paper or strips of painter's tape works too. When you’re finished with those templates save them because they’ll come in handy later!
Choosing Frames
Eclectic gallery walls are fun to put together because no two frames have to be identical. For the grouping in my bedroom, each of the six frames was different. To help reign in the options I repeated frame tones. Two black frames, two wood toned frames, and two metallic frames.
Picture frame moulding width is something else you will want to pay attention to. While there are no rules with this style of a gallery wall, I wanted my frames to have a similar moulding width. All of the frames I choose were a little under or over one inch wide.
And don’t be afraid to think out of the box with your framing! Instead of using a traditional frame for my large centerpiece artwork, I used a shadow box frame. These frames are deeper with the artwork set at the back of the frame with separation from it and the acrylic at the front. I opted to forgo the acrylic and mounted my art print (which was 1/2 inch smaller than the frame) on a piece of foam board. It proved difficult to capture on camera, but the extra dimension it added is a cool effect.
Choosing Mats
My favorite gallery walls have a mixture of frames with and without mats. For this grouping, the mats I used were the same color. Feel free to play around with size and style as well. For instance, this sketch below has a double mat setting it apart from the other single mat piece.
Choosing Art
Obtaining artwork has become a lot easier over the past few years. There are a ton of websites where you can download and print your own art which is a huge money saver. My favorite place to look is Etsy. For extra ease, you can even find curated groupings of artwork just for gallery walls.
As I did in repeating frame tones, I repeated the type of art I used. Neutral sketches, and painted landscapes in coordinating tones. This will still give you that eclectic feel but in a more cohesive manner.
How to Hang a Gallery Wall
This is usually where people chicken out. Hanging a gallery wall sounds intimidating, and no one wants to make unwanted nail holes in their walls. There are many tips out there that can make this daunting task much simpler.
For the wall in my bedroom, I reused the paper templates I made earlier in the process. If you skipped that step just trace each frame onto gift wrapping paper or Kraft paper and cut it out. Tape your paper template into place and adjust as needed. I find it handy to have a tape measure and level on hand to ensure correct spacing at this point. Hanging your frames is going to be a breeze now!
DIY Hanging Tool
There are picture hanging tools you can purchase to help get your nail holes spot on, or you can make one with scrap wood for FREE. That’s what I did. Just put a screw through the end of a scrap piece of wood and you’re good to go!
Hang the art from the screw, and when the art is in the correct position over the paper template just press the screw into the wall. You’ll have an indentation in the wall in the exact position for your nail. This even works for frames hung from wire.
All that’s left to do is level everything out and enjoy your work.
Now that you know all the tips and tricks on how to create an eclectic gallery wall I hope you’ll give it a try!
Shelley, the blogger behind Crazy Wonderful, lives outside of Houston, TX with her husband, two children, and a dog. She is currently working on making their builder-grade house feel like a home through DIY projects and thoughtful purchases. Inspiring others to create a home they love is why Shelley enjoys blogging so much. Her belief is that with a little creativity and elbow grease, you can make your home look like a million bucks without spending it.
DIY Rainbow Heart Shadow Box
March 03, 2021
“Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud” ~ Maya Angelou
Your little one will be on cloud nine when seeing this rainbow heart shadowbox donning her bedroom wall. See how the light and clean palette of our Lucius frame allows the colorful paper hearts to stand out on any colored wall! This simple project can be done in any color palette with any paper shape so use our guide as inspiration for your next DIY design!
Optional: Heart paper punch or Cricut cutting machine
This project can be made using traditional scissors, a paper punch, or using a Cricut cutting machine to cut out the shapes. Whichever route you choose, do your best to keep the shapes the same, especially when applying the second layers of shapes on a later step.
First, cut hearts from colorful cardstock. You can go the traditional rainbow route, try a pastel rainbow or try an alternative bright rainbow palette, as seen here. Our 12 x 12” shadowbox uses (10) of each of the (6) colors shown.
Get your ROYGBIV on and lay your paper hearts in order on the smooth, white shadowbox backing. Use a glue pen to adhere the shapes to the surface. Tip: use a ruler to help line these up as best you can.
Lay a ruler on the center of your heart shape and run a bone folder or popsicle stick along the edge to score it down the middle. Fold the heart and rub along the crease with the flat part of the bone folder or popsicle stick for a crisp crease.
Unfold and apply glue to stick on select hearts for a dimensional look.
Repeat in a random pattern, as desired.
This glassless, dimensional shadowbox will be right at home surrounding the rainbow or unicorn décor most likely in your little girl’s space.
About The Author
Tara Nehil is author of SpotOfTeaDesigns.com, a lifestyle blog sharing home décor, crafts, party inspiration and parenting lessons learned the hard way. Her graphic design background is evident in the home she lives in and styles with her husband of 8 years and 2 young daughters. Follow her creative journey for photo tutorials, printables, budget-friendly decorating tips and ways to celebrate occasions big and small.
How To Create Cut Canvas Wall Art
February 24, 2021
There’s no negativity when it comes to this cool canvas wall art design. Well, maybe there is, but in this case, it’s a good thing! Here’s another way to transform store-bought canvases into beautiful wall art for your home. With the help of an X-Acto knife and colorful cardstock paper, you can update the basic blank canvas into a unique piece of wall art by coloring in the negative space. Upgrade the look with a beautiful Greyson Floater Frame around your finished piece of art to complete the gallery art look.
First, decide on your design. You’ll want a pattern or shape that includes negative spaces. If you want to make this exact project, download our free template linked above.
Cut out all the negative spaces in your template. We did this with our Cricut cutting machine, but you can easily do this with scissors or an X-Acto knife.
Turn your canvas over and lay your template down inside, using painter’s tape to hold it in place. Use a pencil to trace this template.
Tip: if your design includes letters or numbers, make sure to mirror your template before tracing it so you cut it out the correct orientation once flipped over.
Remove the template and place your canvas on a cutting mat. Use a new blade in your X-Acto knife to cut along your pencil marks. Tip: if your design has straight lines, use a ruler!
Cut cardstock to the sizes that will fit inside the back of your canvas to cover the shapes you desire. Run a glue stick along any interior surfaces and place your cardstock to cover.
Use scotch tape along the edges to keep the cardstock in place then masking tape around all the edges for a stronger hold.
Once complete, attach your canvases to the frames using the canvas clips and screws provided. Add a sawtooth hanger at the top.
Hang your canvases and get ready to admire this high-end look for a budget-friendly price!
The grey and natural wood tones of the Greyson Floater Frame allow your intricate artwork to stand out in a bedroom, office or any home environment.
Consider staggering the pair in different rooms or flank them on either side of a bed or table space.
About The Author
Tara Nehil is author of SpotOfTeaDesigns.com, a lifestyle blog sharing home décor, crafts, party inspiration and parenting lessons learned the hard way. Her graphic design background is evident in the home she lives in and styles with her husband of 8 years and 2 young daughters. Follow her creative journey for photo tutorials, printables, budget-friendly decorating tips and ways to celebrate occasions big and small.
