we gave out a lot of photo-boxes for christmas and they were a huge hit + everybody wanted to know how to make them.
they really are sooo easy to make, but for whatever reason, it took me over a year to figure out how to do this. see, i've purchased many beautiful photo boxes from e.soule and they're gorgeous, as is her photography, but i thought she was building her own frames or something, which is just out of my league. (nope! it turns out you don't need to do that!) i really wanted to replicate her technique to display our own family photos in the same way around the house and finally i've figured out how to do that.
and now i'm going to show YOU how to do it.
:)
for those of you with iphones + the hipstamatic app, you're in for a treat, 'cause the prints they send you in the mail are actually awesome, beautiful + worth every penny. they're printed on archival photo paper and look just as incredible, in my opinion, as real film. plus, you can get them in 7 x 7 prints, which is perfect for this project!
so. order up some 7 x 7 prints (or anything larger than 6 x 6 - if you're not working with hipstamatic - and plan on cropping it a bit).
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you will need for this project:
your prints
2" thick 6 x 6 ampersand clayboard frames (i get mine here. they are almost half the price of any of my local art stores, plus, if you order enough you get free shipping!)
a cutting matt
an x-acto knife with a sharp, brand-new blade
photo spray glue
a cardboard box
masking tape
start by putting masking tape all around the SIDES of your clayboard (this is so the spray glue doesn't get on there when you spray it).
next, place the clayboard with the white surface - or front/top - face up, into the cardboard box.
you're going to spray glue onto it and the cardboard box helps prevent the glue from getting EVERYWHERE. it really just goes EVERYWHERE when you spray it, so spraying in the box helps.
place the photo face down into the box next to the clayboard.
next, get out your spray glue...
and lightly spray both surfaces : the TOP of the clayboard and the BACK of the photo. hold the spray glue about 6 inches away from the surfaces you are spraying (make sure both surfaces get completely covered but now saturated).
wait a minute, then peel the masking tape off of the clayboard.
center your clayboard face down over the back of your photo. really make sure of your placement before your stick the two surfaces together, because once they're stuck, they're pretty stuck. i usually just center mine 'cause i'm using those hipstamatic prints, unless there's something in a corner that i really want to make sure i capture, and then i aim to get the clayboard on whatever that detail is.
using your fingers or an ink roller, gently press the two surfaces together. (i roll over the top of my print with the ink roller to make sure they're stuck together in all the corners + stuff).
get out your cutting board and place the photobox face down on to of it.
taking your sharp x-acto knife, carefully trim away the excess photo edges from around the box.
you're DONE!
now you just have to put on a label.
and now you can make your own photo-boxes to enjoy for yourself or give as gifts.
have fun!
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