Picture(s) Perfect

Anyone that knows the slightest little thing about me, knows that I. LOVE. PICTURE FRAMES. I love the old, the new, the tattered and clean, etc. I think it stems from me loving pictures in general, and then loving to display them. Picture frames just add that finishing touch and ties everything that otherwise would have nothing to do with each other, together. I love everything a picture represents and the stories they tell; from where you were at that point in your life, how different you look, occasions, etc. So when I found this tutorial on Pinterest, I was a little skeptical. But I talked myself into it. I thought that even though these (pics)will not end up with an actual "frame" around the edges, it will still end up with a finishing touch; and after all that's all I really want, is the finishing touch. So I was bound and determined to go out of my comfort zone and try something new. (I'm sure if you are reading this post then you are probably one of my friends/followers on Pinterest, so you can find the tutorial on one of my pinterest boards. Because of that I am not going to post the link...also because the "link" button never works for me. I think I'm doing something wrong....) Anyways, here's what I did.
I chose 4 pictures (2 of Clay and 2 of Cody) and edited and cropped them online (at Inkleys/RitzPix.com)
Side Note- I don't know that I should be recommending this site anymore, cause while I've been very pleased (most of the time) I normally pick up my order from the store. But they have since closed down both stores close to me, and now the nearest one is like 25 miles away! I might have to venture out and test out a different picture printing company. :(
Moving on, after making the changes to my pictures-making them black and white and putting a cool transparent overlay over the top-I had them printed in 8x8 size.
Then I went to Home Depot for some wood. FYI, Home Depot sells 1in x 8in x 8ft. You would think that you could just buy the board and have them cut into 8 inch increments, leaving the pieces 8in x 8in. No! Stop! This is not the case!! The 1in x 8in board is not actually 8 inches, it's 7 and 3/4 inches. So I had to bump myself up to the 1in x 10in board. I had them cut it into 8 inch increments, leaving me with 8in x 10in boards. Come to find out, they will cut a board length wise, but not width wise, as it is a safety hazard. Whatever. So I took the boards home to have Chris cut the extra 2 inches off, giving me my 8x8 board that I needed.
Then we found the center point of each board and drilled a hole, for hanging purposes later. I wanted my boards to hang flush with the wall but also not be able to see what was holding it up, so putting a hook or some type of hanging device on the top or back was not an option for me. After that, I lined them all up and painted them black. As you may know, all my furniture in the house is black or has black accents, so I thought this would go best with everything no matter what room I ended up hanging the pictures in.

The next day after the (spray)paint had dried, I put a thin layer of Mod Podge glue on the top and placed one 8x8 picture on top.

Then I put a thin layer of the same glue over the top of the picture.

It had me worried at first, but I soon learned that the glue dries clear and with a bit of a texture. I love it. So after the first layer of glue dried, I added another layer of glue going the opposite direction-to give it a kind of "Canvas" feel. It turned out awesome! And the best part about it? It only cost me less than $25 for four. And I have left over wood, spray paint, and glue to do more if I want.
Wood-$6
Spray Paint-$4
Pictures-$12
The glue I think is around $7 at JoAnn's, but I already had that on hand.
The hardest part about the whole thing was trying to center all four pictures on the wall and get them to hang level with the straight line of the tv. :)

I spaced them out this way so if I decide to do more,, I can offset them either below or above these ones.

Another picture project I've been meaning to get to is our 16x20 family portrait. We had one taken when Chris's whole side of the family had pictures done. But I didn't order it through JCPennys. One reason is because they wanted to charge me $185 for 1 16x20, and that didn't include getting it matted OR the frame. And two, because we all went in on it together and bought the cd and all the rights to any picture we wanted. I think this was a much better value. The cd was like $150, but split 3 or 4 ways and it was definitely more cost efficient. So again, I had Inkley's print my 16x20. (The first one got destroyed in the mail-but after calling and explaining that I was not happy, they sent me another one for free.) It was $20.
(this was the one that got ruined in the mail-you can see all the creases on the photo at the top)

Then I paid $1.69 for a matted poster board. I'm not sure that that's what it is really called, but I can't think of a better way to describe it.
You can see the thickness in between my fingers.

A little Mod Podge...

...and you can't even tell the difference from my $185 family portrait done last year...

...and my $20 one that I just "matted" myself. The finished product.

Love it when I get what I want for a fraction of the cost. :)Go Me!!