Collage Wall

      I already posted cell phone pictures of this but thought it would be fun to document the whole process.  I have wanted to do a collage wall in my dining room since we first moved in 3 years ago.  The thought of a bajillion nail holes in the wall, and visions of Michaels hands tight around my neck held me back.  But I decided now was the time to go for it.  I even figured out a way that did zero damage to the wall.  

      I decided on all black frames.  I bought a variety of cheap-ish frames from Wal-mart.  Some are just flat wood on the front and some have beveled edges.  

    I didn't have any particular layout in mind when I started.  I started buying a few frames each time I went to Wal-mart to keep from paying a lot at once.  I also started printing my favorite pictures in a variety of size.

   Then it was time to lay it out.  I knew I wanted the biggest frame in the middle and I went from there.  I didn't have frames for all my pictures and I didn't even have enough pictures printed.  I used paper to mark the places and sizes of the pictures I was missing.

 

     After it was laid out, I could tell how many more frames and prints I needed, what sizes, and if they needed to be horizontal or diagonal.  

       My secret damage-free weapon?  Command strips for hanging pictures.  I was pretty confident to use these because I've used the regular strips and hooks in the past, without any problem.  These new ones (at least new to me) are like velcro.

        One side goes on the wall and one side on the frame.  It's a few days shy of a week but so far they've held like a dream!   I will say they worked better on frames that had a solid flat back as opposed to the type above that had a little lip.  We made them work, just had to be more careful to line it up just right.  

    After initially hanging the strip, you have to wait an hour to put the frame up.  So we worked in sections.  The middle pictures first, wait an hour, the right side, wait an hour, and the left side.
    
    I am an eyeball it and go type of girl.  My counterpart is a level and tape measure it kind of guy.  I hung the middle and right side and then he helped on the left.  It was important that it was symmetrical so once again he came in handy with his mad math skills!

I love the end result!

It's better than I pictured (pun intended!)

That's it, a few hours  for a beautiful wall!