A Craft Project

One of my favorite rooms in our house is our playroom.  It flows right in from our entryway, with beautiful soaring 18' ceilings and a gorgeous fireplace.  It also has a huge wall that is a total focal point.  I knew I needed some really fantastic artwork to highlight the wall.

I considered a few different gallery wall options, but decided in the end I needed something simpler but with higher impact.  I love the look of gallery-wrapped canvas prints...but holy guacamole, have you SEEN the prices on those suckers?  Upwards of $75 for an 8x10!  So I figured I'd give this hack a try.

First, I got a large piece of one inch thick foam insulation board from Lowes.  It was around $14 for a HUGE piece.  Then, I went to Staples and handed over my little thumb drive with these photos on it and asked for an engineering print.  Three things you need to know about making engineering prints:  the sizes are ginormous, they only print in black and white, and you need to make sure your photos are SUPER high resolution so they don't turn out all pixel-y when enlarged.  (I also recommend taking the time to walk your thumb drive into the store, not ordering them online.  Their website for ordering engineering prints is super complicated.)  It was less than $10 for all three of my prints.

Next, I cut my foam board into pieces a few inches smaller than I printed my pictures, so I could wrap the pictures around the board like a gallery wrapped canvas.  I used spray adhesive (do this part outside, it leaves a sticky residue EVERYWHERE) and carefully smoothed my photos on.  Wrap the edges like you're wrapping a present, hang some handy Command 3M hanging strips to the back, and you are all set!

 

They seriously make me so happy. 

 

So if you're in search of some fantastic high impact art for a wall and are cheap like me, engineering prints from Staples are your new best friend!