DIY Square Photo Blocks

I assure you, the handful of folks who read my little blog here (and I love and thank you all), that I have not fallen of the face of the planet. There’s just been a lot of family stuff going on, and I’ve felt the need to spend what time I have with my kiddo, not glued to my computer I’ve also been busy editing a wedding that I shot for a dear friend, and now that that is mostly done I’m moving back to the blog. I have a few crafty project tutorials lined up and a great post sponsored by Elmer’s coming up in a few days. So hopefully I’ll be getting back into the swing-o-things.

Today I have a for you a super simple craft/photo project. You know I’m always looking for new and easy ways to display photos around here. I had some square format prints that have been laying around that I really wanted to display, some good old medium format film prints. I didn’t really want to frame them, so digging through my craft stash I realized I had some 5×5 birch blocks that I’ve used for projects like this nifty one and thought they would be perfect for this project.

So here’s what I gathered together for the project…

3 5×5 blocks (I’ve got more photos, but I only had 3 blocks on hand)

Mod Podge – to attach the photos to the block

Sponge brush – to apply the Mod Podge

Black craft paint and paint brush

And don’t forget your photos!

First I painted the sides of the blocks black just to give them a little more of a finished look.

It didn’t take long for them to dry, the wood just soaked up the paint.

Next I applied Mod Podge just to the the top of the block. I didn’t want a really thick coating so that I could avoid air bubbles and oozing out the sides.

Then I carefully laid the photo onto the block. I used a plastic card to gently, so as not to scratch the print, smooth the photo and make sure there is contact between it and the block through out.

(Notice my “assistant” woke up from her nap and is hanging out in the upper right corner.)

I then repeated the process for the other two blocks and Voila!

Three easy photo blocks ready to go up on the wall!

I will say the prints were just a smidge larger than the blocks. At this moment I don’t have a knife sharp enough to shave that off. I don’t think that it’s terribly noticeable, but as soon as I can get a new blade I’ll probably shave those edges to be flush with the wood. Just a heads up that your prints might not be the exact size of your surface.

Pretty easy, huh? In the matter of a couple hours, or less you can have some great new artwork for your walls. Heck, they’d even make a snazzy Mother’s Day gift!

What crafty endeavors have you been up to lately?

Anna-Leigh

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