Thank you for stopping by my blog today! I am going to walk you through my Beach themed photo hanger project. I hope you love it! Maybe you'll learn something new or this will encourage you to create your own photo hanger, whether it's a beach theme like mine or maybe a fall theme. Maybe a lemon or other fruit theme is more your style. That seems to be a very popular decor idea lately! Maybe you like the little red pick up truck and buffalo check pattern or floral theme. Whatever you like, you do you, and have fun!!!
The idea for this photo hanger has been 'hanging' around in my head for so long!! See what I did there!! 😂😂😂
Ok, ok. My in-laws live in North Carolina and we've gone to the beach with them each time we've visited. They usually come here to see us, but only once a year. So we try to cram everything we can into that week we have with them. She is a big fan of the beach, flip flops and all things waterfront! I think that's where my thoughts originated on the whole beach thing and why the beach reminds me of them so much. So when I finally decided to start a project for them, I knew it would have to be a beach theme.
Who doesn't love the beach? Right!? Well I wanted to incorporate pictures because family is everything. I drew a picture of what I thought I wanted it to look like. Please don't judge, I'm a visual person and slightly OCD so I needed to draw it before I started creating.
I also had to make a list of all the things I thought I might need to create this amazing photo hanger. I knew I would need to find a wooden sign and several small photo frames. I found the sign at Hobby Lobby for about $6. And I found the frames at the Dollar Tree. While at Hobby Lobby I also found some super cute ribbons that were PERFECT for my beach theme! I wanted to make a messy bow for the top corner. I thought it would really set it off and I've been a little obsessed with them lately. I also found the wooden 'Family' and 'Blessed' signs and the twine at Hobby Lobby. Just a couple bucks for those too. I found some little stars that look like starfish at Michael's in the jewelry section for super cheap! I think they were 75% off and costed just under $2. I already had the paints and the primer but picked up a couple more small bottles of paint, one with a metallic look. I picked up the wooden dowels/knobs and hearts at Hobby Lobby for around $2.50 each. I also had to buy a jar of gel gloss medium. This is what was needed for the photo transfer onto the wood. I did watch a bunch of videos and quickly gained the confidence to try it, myself. I opted not to paint the wood before the photo transfer and instead painted the beach scene around it. I guess my hope was that the photo would adhere better if I placed it directly to the wood. I don't know. I'm not a professional. I'm just winging it.
I've always wanted to try photo transfer and actually attempted it once, unsuccessfully. I found out later that I was using the wrong products and just going about it all wrong. This was before YouTube became a popular resource for learning such things. I found some pictures of us when we went to the beach with my in-laws that I thought would be perfect. And then, I got this crazy idea to transfer all of our faces onto little wooden hearts!!
Since I wasn't trying to cover the entire surface with a picture, I was ok with them coming out a little tattered looking. I thought about how things wash up on the beach and how they look worn and a little beat up from the water. So this was perfect! I'll try to walk you though this process briefly but please feel free to ask questions in the comments section if you have any! First I found the pictures I wanted to use and I cut and pasted them onto a Word document, using the ruler tool to size them to fit the wood. Then I printed them on regular computer paper, not photo paper!! This is important! The one thing I forgot to do that is essential in transferring photos, especially those with words and/or phrases, is to flip the photo before I printed it. It didn't matter for these, which is great. I lightly sanded the surface of the wood before I started the transfer process. Then, I coated the wood with the gel gloss medium. I think if I wanted the photos to be a little less tattered, I should've used more of that gel medium. But I didn't. So it's all good. Once the area was coated with the gel medium I simply laid the photo over it, face down and used a little rubber tool to smooth it out so there were no bumps between the photo and the wood.
Because there were slits in between the planks of wood I was a bit nervous about how this would turn out! Once it was all smoothed out I did the same thing to the little wooden hearts, covering each one with a face photo. I simply coated the wooden heart and then turned it upside down and placed it on the photo that was lying face up on the table. I thought it was the best way to try to center the faces. I let it dry for an hour or so while I worked on painting the frames. I really wanted to give the frames a more beachy feel to match the way I wanted to paint the wood sign. I sanded down the plastic frames the best I could and realized I had no painters tape to protect the glass! I decided to take the little paper that came with the photo out of the frame and put it on the front of the glass. This way, when I painted, it would hit that paper and then I could just remove it when I was done painting! No mess!! Then I painted a little primer on the frames. I wasn't sure if that was necessary or if it would even help but I was a little concerned about the paint pealing off the plastic. I reached out in my Facebook group to see if anyone had ever done this and got some really good advice but this was the route I chose to take. Hopefully, it's effective and the paint doesn't start pealing off! I did use chalk paint, so that's a plus.
After the primer I painted a coat of the metallic blue that I bought. It has a little bit of a pearl finish, I guess. Then I used the white chalk paint. Once I had it mostly covered with the white, I grabbed the sanding block and distressed it a little. Then, I went back and added more white and even a little sand color to make it more beach-y. The bigger frames were a little tougher because the surface was different. That may have actually been metal. I don't even know. But it wasn't the same plastic surface as the smaller ones. A little challenging, but got 'er done. I also went back and added a little more of the blue pearl-y stuff to the areas that sanded down too far. I didn't want the metal like color coming through. After I finished the frames I set them aside to dry while I worked on the photo transfers.
I grabbed a bowl and filled it about 3/4 of the way with water. I grabbed a wash rag and started to dab the back of the pictures, wetting the outside layer of paper. Once it was good and wet I gently pealed off a layer of paper. What was left I again gently rubbed (can't peal this part) off the paper with my finger until I could see the entire photo. The sign took a little longer, not just because the photos took up a bigger area but because the wood finish (or lack thereof) was a little different than the little wooden hearts. You could see in some of the hearts where I didn't use enough gel medium or smooth out the air bubbles enough. That's where the photo didn't stick as well. But again, I really wanted to achieve that worn and tattered look. So Yay Me!! Bravo, Sambo. Sorry, gratuitous, virtual back pat totally necessary!
Once I could see the photos clearly as the wood soaked up the colors and the paper was completely removed I coated them with Mod Podge to seal them. I opted for the brush-on Mod Podge as opposed to the spray because I was worried about how it would affect the photo. Maybe an unrealistic fear, but nevertheless, it worked.
I set the hearts aside and began the painting of the beach scene on the sign. This is where things slowed down and I knew I was right not to try to do this on a live video! My goodness that would've been boring and SUPER long!! I had so many ideas and just couldn't decide where to start. I knew I wanted the waters edge. I wanted a little bit of a sandy beach and waves washing ashore. So guess what I did?! I winged it!!
Since I decided not to use a primer first, the paint really soaked into the wood! I had to use several coats until I got where I wanted to be. Once that dried, I went back and added more details. I neglected to take another photo of the details until after I added all of the other embellishments but I made the waves a little bolder and added more definition. I discovered during this process that I am not very good at painting waves. I'll need to work on that.
Now it was time to add the knobs to hang the pictures on. I painted those with the white chalk paint and then coated them with Mod Podge. Then I hot glued them to the sign. I didn't measure. I just eyeballed it. I did the two outer knobs first, then the center, then the two in between. Looks great to me!! What do you guys think?
The 'Blessed' and 'Family' signs were pretty easy but time consuming as well. Again, I didn't use the primer (I don't know what my major malfunction was!). I decided to do the edges darker to give it some depth. They were already darker than the wood with kind of a burnt look. I almost left them like that! But I really wanted to stick with the color scheme I had going on. Again, it took several coats of paint. Placement was a challenge as well. When I bought them, I thought the sign was a tad bigger than it actually is so I had to let it hang over the edges of the sign a little. I think it looks pretty darn cool, myself. I lined it up with the shoreline. So smart, Sambo!
To hang the photos I alternated the colors of the ribbon, wrapping them around the frame, under the glass before tying them and hanging them on the knobs. Not perfect, but that's ok. The imperfections are what make the piece stand out! Just as winging it is part of the joy of these things!
I decided to add just a few of the sea stars. I honestly wanted to put ALL of them on there but it was already pretty busy, so I refrained. I think it was just enough! At this point I had to figure out how to incorporate the little wooden hearts. I had no idea where I was going to put them! I ended up cutting some twine and gluing one end to the back of the hearts and hanging them just above each of the frames. I grouped them, somewhat, putting my in-laws together, me and Barry together, my son and my granddaughter together, my step-daughter, and then my two boys who are still at home together.
Lastly, the messy bow. Guys!!! I've been so obsessed with these!! I don't even know how to do it right. What I do know is that the few times I've tried, I've apparently gotten the wrong kind of ribbon or something because I give new meaning to MESSY with these things!! Much of the ribbon I used for this one was kind of wide so I cut it down the center to make thinner pieces. This apparently causes some ribbon to unravel or shred on the edges. The mess on the table after making this boy was almost as messy as the bow, itself!! But LOOK!!! It's so CUTE!!! Now, it's pretty busy, I know. If you don't know this about me, it's ALWAYS busy! Soooooo, I made the bow removable. When my in-laws get this, they can decide if they want it with or without the bow.
This was such a fun craft for me!! I am very pleased with myself, if you can't tell. I know it's not prefect and I know it's super busy, but it's exactly what I'd hoped to create. Some lessons learned, for sure!! But I would happily make several more of these in the same theme or even venture into some different ones! Maybe next time I'll use the primer first, or use thinner ribbon for the bow and for hanging the frames so it doesn't block so much of the painting on the sign. Or maybe next time, I'll photo transfer something on the entire surface of the wood! I don't know! The possibilities are endless, y'all!!
Thank you SO MUCH for stopping by to read my blog. I hope you will share it with other crafty minded people you know. And if you are not already following me on Facebook, stop by my Facebook Group and check out some of the videos of the crafts I've done. They're entertaining, if nothing else! 😂😝
Have an amazing day, my crafty friends!!! Be well and craft on!!
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