BIG Custom Sports Photo Poster Collage (super easy and Inexpensive)

Yesterday I shared the HUGE Custom Photo Poster I made for my girls' room.  My son was impressed when he saw it and wanted something similar, so I used the same concept with an engineering print, but made it a sports collage instead.

Check it out...

 

I knew I wanted something sports related to match his room and his interests, so I made a collage of him playing four different sports and added text labels.

 

 Again, I used PicMonkey.com to add the effects, make the collage and add the sports words.  This isn't a sponsored post or anything, but if you haven't tried PicMonkey for photo editing fun, you really should.  It's really easy and there's so much you can do.

I simply went to the collage page and chose the layout that I wanted, then added my pictures.  I changed all the photos to black and white, adjusted the sharpness and exposure, and cropped them to best show the action.  When I had everything looking the way I wanted, I hit "Edit" at the top of the collage page, and I was able to add the sports' names.  I rotated them to fit where I wanted them and everything was ready.

NOTE:  Because you'll be printing this out at 24"x36" , you'll want a 2:3 ratio when you're making the final pixel size of your collage so it fills the whole poster without being cut off.  It sounds really "math-y" but it's just simple multiplication tables.  You'll want the short side to be a number multiplied by 2 and the long side to be that same number multiplied by 3.  For example, mine was 1400 (700x2) by 2100 (700x3).

Once I got the collage the way I wanted it, I uploaded it to Staples again.  I chose the engineering print option in 24x36 and chose to fill the page with the image.  I picked up a black 24x36 frame.  (Black seems to be a lot easier to find than white and it was cheaper than the girls' white one ~ only $9 for the frame!)

My cat gets very curious when I'm doing projects!

I just popped the poster in the frame and I was good to go.  My son loved it!  I think it would be awesome to do this with any sports or hobbies ~ you could even make a big collage of a whole season's worth of photos or really with anything.  And at $4 a print (mine was actually $3.29) you could switch it out whenever you want.

 

 Pretty cool, isn't it?  And for about $13 total for the picture and frame, it's way better than any generic sports print you could buy for your wall!

HUGE, Custom Photo Poster (and it's REALLY inexpensive!)

Last year, I saw this awesome Giant Picture on Sugar Bee Crafts and knew I wanted to make something similar.  All I had to do was wait till I got the perfect photo that I would want to make giant-sized.  Well, last week I finally got that perfect shot of my girls and set out to make my own huge print.

Here it is...

Isn't it pretty?  It's 2 feet by 3 feet, so it's quite big, but fills the space above their big dresser just perfectly.  (For a tutorial on their pretty, fabric-covered dresser, go HERE).  Oh, and did I mention that this gorgeous big custom print cost under $4?  That's right, four bucks!  It was so inexpensive that I splurged and got an $18 white frame to display it in.  Just over $20 and such a wow factor when you walk in their room.

When even an 8x10 photo enlargement can easily cost $4 or more, how did I get an 24x36 print for the same price?  The secret is getting an engineering print at an office supply store or copy center.  (I used Staples).  Usually engineering prints are used for blue prints and such, but they also work fine for a black and white photo.

Here's what I did...

First, I used a photo I got of my girls at a flower garden near our home.

They're both smiling, hair is brushed, outfits match, pretty background ~ that's something to take a picture of for sure!

Next, I went on PicMonkey.com  (it's FREE and really user friendly) and changed the photo to black and white.  I also adjusted the brightness, contrast, and sharpness just a little bit so it looked nice and crisp in black and white.  Finally, I added the frost edges around the outer edge and put the year in the bottom right corner.

Finally, I went online to Staples and uploaded my picture.  (I imagine other copy centers have similar online ordering options, or you can just save your image to a flash drive and take it in) I chose the 24x36" size (the medium option) and selected to fill the frame with my image.  Within a few hours, I got the email that it was ready and went to pick it up.

The paper is thin, like regular copy paper, but the photo is surprisingly clear.

Here is where I differed from the original tutorial.  Mandy had opted for the largest 3x4 foot size, so she mounted hers on a large piece of foam.  I actually tried mounting mine on foam board, but it got a few wrinkles in it that I didn't really like.  Then I realized that 24x36 is a standard frame size.  I got another engineering print, then used a coupon so I was able to get a nice white frame for just $18.  The print is protected behind glass and I can spend just $4 again anytime I want to just switch out for a new picture.  

Oh, and the bottom of the picture looks a little blurry and hazy with a line running across their arms, but it's actually just the reflection of the bed in the background.  (It was like trying to photograph a mirror ~ tricky, tricky)

The girls love it, I love it, and I'm just thrilled that it was so inexpensive.

Next, I'll be sharing how I made a similar poster-sized piece of artwork for my son's room. You can check it out HERE.

Kid in a Liquid Soap Bottle (funny photo idea)

I love when I can find fun ways to use photos of the kids in little projects or crafts.  Last year, we made these Fun Photo Bookmarks and they were a big hit.  After the kids did a super fun Mud Run obstacle course with their cousins this summer, I knew I wanted to do something clever with some of the photos I took of all the muddy fun.  Then I remembered this pin I'd spotted several months ago.  I was super bummed that it was just an image and I can't find the source anywhere (if you know the source, please let me know so I can credit this great idea).  However, I figured out how to recreate it and the kids love being trapped in a bottle.

Check it out!  Isn't this cool?

It was really easy to do, the hardest part was choosing a picture then making a quick run to the office supply store to get the transparency.

First, a quick peek at the fun they had getting filthy at the Mud Run (it was a 1 1/2 mile course through tons of muddy obstacles and all the proceeds went to charity).

Can you believe how totally mud-covered they were by the end?  They loved it though.

Okay, now on to the project.  Here's what to do...

First I picked a few bottles of clear liquid hand soap or hand sanitizer and printed out some pictures of each mud-covered kid.

Next, I carefully cut out as close as I could around each kid, then took the photos to Office Depot and had them make a color transparency. (cost was about $2)

Finally, remove the label from the front of the bottle.  (I left the back label in place so the picture was a little easier to see).  However, if your photos are brighter than a muddy brown, you could remove the back label too.

Then I cut out each kid's picture, leaving some of the clear transparency film around it.  (It's a little tough to see in the picture, but I have the image of my daughter with about an inch of clear all the way around it)  Having a piece of transparency about the same size as the soap bottle makes it easier to fit it into the bottle.  If you cut too close to the image, it tends to shift around too much inside the bottle.  

Next, just remove the pump, roll the transparency so it fits in the opening and push it in.  I then used a wooden skewer to help unroll the transparency and position it in place.

Put the pump back in and that's it!


The kids love their fun little "souvenirs" of their muddy day and it's a practical use for the photos.

I definitely plan on doing this same project again with "prettier" pictures, but we thought it was fun to tie together our super muddy images with the cleaning soap!

Sharing this idea at:

Monday Funday party 
 Craft-O-Maniac