DIY Halloween Photo Display

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Halloween is my favorite holiday. The costume planning. The fun of dressing up and pretending along with the whole family. I love snapping way too many pictures of my boys. They are just so adorable dressed up at miniature super heroes or cowboys. Last year I wanted to create something to help display our memories.

I decided to stop just snapping pictures and downloading them onto the computer. Instead I actually get them printed out and add them to my Halloween frame. Now I can see the pictures from years past and add to the display every year. My boys love helping me with getting out the pictures and looking to see what they wore the years prior.

This was a fun craft that adds to my Halloween decor every year. Below is a step by step of how to put it together.

Halloween frame for photos

First find a work space, mine is my dinner room table. I had to remove the weeks worth of built up stuff and covered the table with paper. Get a frame that is big enough to hold many photos. I found this long one when my husband’s company was cleaning out their office. You won’t need the glass or backing so don’t worry if that is damaged.

You will also need string, staple gun, sand paper, paint and brush. Later I also added some bugs with a glue gun for a little added Halloween fun!

Next I removed the old picture, backing and glass. I used the sand paper to roughen up the glossy finish on the original frame so that my paint would stick better. Using rolls of tape allowed me to elevate the frame, making it easier to paint. I painted all the way around the frame and allowed it to thoroughly dry.

To attach the photos to the string I thought paperclips would work well. I wanted to jazz them up a bit so I grabbed some colorful cotton balls and my glue gun. The cotton adhered terrifically to the paper clips and just had to wait for them to set.

who doesn’t love a glue gun?

I did this step while waiting for the paint to dry. The thing is, I am incredibly inpatient when trying to complete a project. I try to let things dry long enough so having a step in between really helps.

Once dry I flipped over the frame and began stapling down the string. I tried black and orange colors and decided I liked the orange better. Following a  zig-zag pattern across the frame, stapling whenever the string crossed the wood. Then zig-zag back up the frame resulting in the criss-cross pattern.

This year I added some creepy crawlies to the frame. I just grabbed my glue gun (wow I love that things, seriously any chance I get) and popped on a couple spiders and bugs. Some of them glow in the dark so that’s fun for everyone!

I love how it turned out and it has survived storage in my basement without needing touch ups or reattaching the cotton balls. I do remove the pictures every year and pop them into a envelope to get out the next year.

Enjoy this quick and easy MAKE IT MONDAY project, just in time for Halloween! Please enter your email under SIGN ME UP! so you don’t miss a post.