Are you in need of a cute way to display your photos or cards at Christmas or anytime of year?
I have the perfect project for you and I designed this so both sides can be used. This Photo Display can be used all year but…BONUS you can flip it over and it is personalized just for Christmas. Projects like these are great because it saves time, money and space.
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TOOLS FOR PHOTO DISPLAY
- Measuring Tape
- Saw
- Carpenters square
- Sander
- Brad nailer
SUPPLIES FOR PHOTO DISPLAY
- 2- 1 x 4 x 8
- 1/4 inch plywood
- Wood glue
- 5/8 inch 18 G brad nails
- Wood filler in natural
- Wood stain – I used Minwax stain in Dark Walnut and Rust-oleum stain in Weathered Gray.
- Old t-shirts
- Stencil made with Silhouette Cameo
- Acrylic paints in white and black
- Small paint brush for painting the stencils
- Painters tape or Frog tape
- Jute
- Small wood clothespins
CUTS FOR PHOTO DISPLAY
*If you don’t own a saw have your wood cut at the hardware store.
- 4 – 1 x 4 x 8 – 31 1/2 inches
- 1/4 inch plywood – 3 x 13 7/8 inches (width of all the four 1x4s together)
STEPS FOR PHOTO DISPLAY
Step 1) Use a carpenter square to line up the four 1 x 4s. Apply wood glue to the plywood pieces then attach with brad nails. 
I used a couple scrap pieces of wood to help with placement of the plywood pieces. Using scrap wood is a tip that helps to equally place pieces like these. The plywood pieces ended up being 2 5/8 inches from the top and bottom.
After everything is in place here is what you will have. 
Step 2) Fill in the nail holes with wood filler and then sand the entire piece on both sides and then stain it. I used two different colors to stain. I used Minwax stain in Dark Walnut and then applied Rust-oleum stain in Weathered Gray. I didn’t wait in between applying the coats. Layering these stains give it a nice blend of brown and gray tones. 
Step 3) Grab some paint and a paint brush. I wanted mine to look weathered so I applied light streaks of white chalk paint in the direction of the grain of the wood. Once the paint dried I furthered weathered it by sanding it so the grain of the wood would show even more. I love how it turned out! I also sanded the side that was stained.
Step 4) Time to add the stencil. I created three stencils using the Silhouette Cameo. On the stained side I painted the stencil with white acrylic paint, removed the stencil and lightly sanded it.
On the painted side I taped off a small section at the top, painted it with the same white chalk paint, painted the stencil with black acrylic paint, removed the stencil and lightly sanded it. 
Step 5) Wrap the jute around the boards in a criss cross type pattern. Then add the small wood clothespins. Lean your Photo Display up against a wall, on a shelf, a piece of furniture or add some eye hooks to the top and hang it with wire on the wall.
I hope you enjoy your photo display and add some fun photos of family, friends and favorite places…BLESSED.
Dream Big and DO IT,
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