A few years back for Mother's Day I was trying to think of something really creative to do for my mom. I knew that things like taking her out to dinner or going on a spa day were great and that she would enjoy them, but I wanted something that she would really remember for a long time. Then it hit me. A family photo! I could get me, my sisters, my husband (then boyfriend), and my sister's husband and their little boy all together and we could surprise Mom with a new family photo!
It didn't end up working out. Everyone had very busy schedules and we couldn't find the time to all get together so I had to give up on that idea. But not long after that I came up with my next best idea, a family collage! I don't know what I ate that day that got my creative juices flowing so much, but in a short amount of time I had figured out exactly what I wanted to do. I went to Hobby Lobby and found big wooden letters that spelled MOM and then went to a friend of mine who is good with wood and he got them glued together and put a hook on the top 'M' so it would hang straight on the wall. Then it was my turn.
Over the next couple of day I secretly looked through old and new photos of all of us and copied/printed off a ton of them. I had photos of my sisters and me, my sister's family, Dan, my mom when she was younger, my cousins who my mom helped raise, and even some of our friends who considered my mom as a second mom. I then worked on cutting and fixing them on just right to fit the wood letters and gluing them into place. I used a basic glue stick and for the most part they all stayed on really well. Then I took laminate paper and covered the whole thing to make sure pictures wouldn't start peeling.
Now that I look back, using gel medium would have been WAY simpler and probably would have made the process go much faster, but I am still proud of my work.
It didn't end up working out. Everyone had very busy schedules and we couldn't find the time to all get together so I had to give up on that idea. But not long after that I came up with my next best idea, a family collage! I don't know what I ate that day that got my creative juices flowing so much, but in a short amount of time I had figured out exactly what I wanted to do. I went to Hobby Lobby and found big wooden letters that spelled MOM and then went to a friend of mine who is good with wood and he got them glued together and put a hook on the top 'M' so it would hang straight on the wall. Then it was my turn.
Over the next couple of day I secretly looked through old and new photos of all of us and copied/printed off a ton of them. I had photos of my sisters and me, my sister's family, Dan, my mom when she was younger, my cousins who my mom helped raise, and even some of our friends who considered my mom as a second mom. I then worked on cutting and fixing them on just right to fit the wood letters and gluing them into place. I used a basic glue stick and for the most part they all stayed on really well. Then I took laminate paper and covered the whole thing to make sure pictures wouldn't start peeling.
Now that I look back, using gel medium would have been WAY simpler and probably would have made the process go much faster, but I am still proud of my work.