DIY Craft Tutorial: How to Make an Interesting Photo Collage

Recently I was looking for an easy and (let's be honest) relatively cheap way to add some artwork to my office/studio walls. I remembered that I had a pile of art postcards and exhibition announcements that I had collected over the years. A few hours later - with two poster frames and lots of placing and reconfiguring - I had two new collages to put on my wall.

I've had these poster frames for years, but you can buy them at most big box department stores or craft stores (mine are from IKEA). With a little searching, you should be able to find them for less than $10 each. My frames are not fancy - there's no glass, just thick acetate in a plain pine frame. But the simplicity helps to focus all the attention on what's in the frame :) And I just used the paper insert from the frame for the backing of my collage.

As I said, I used my collection of art exhibition postcards, but you could use any photos, cards, drawings, or even images from magazines that you want. I particularly chose things that I liked and was inspired by.

My first step was to separate my cards into three piles, knowing that I wouldn't use all of them. The first pile was images that I definitely wanted to use in my collage. The second pile had things I might use or I might not, and the third pile was stuff that I wasn't particularly interested in using.

Taking the first two piles, I started placing images down on my backing sheet to create my collage. At this point, I didn't want to adhere the images in place. A collage is like a jigsaw puzzle - you need to move things around to find the right place for each photo, and then fit them all together.

I would suggest not putting too much of the same color together and varying the size of the images throughout the collage. I tried to balance the composition of my collage - if I put a large horizontal image on the bottom right, then I put a vertical photo in the top left. I also put pictures that I thought made an interesting contrast next to each other, so there would always be something to find, consider, and thinking about in the mix.

Once I was happy with my arrangement, I took a quick photo of it for reference. Then I carefully started lifting my images from the cardboard backing and sticking them down on the paper insert one by one into the finished configuration. However, I wanted to preserve my cards and didn't want to permanently glue them down, so I used Scotch brand clear mounting squares for positioning the images. For the most part, I was able to cut these mounting squares in two and only use a small piece in the two upper corners of each card to hold it in place. I was careful that each card was straight as I placed it down and I thought about where I wanted and didn't want any overlapping.

The hardest part was placing the acetate over the collage and putting the frame on without shifting any of the images. It took a few tries but it was worth it to make sure everything stayed in place and looked straight.

I really like the completed collages - they're colorful and look great on my wall. And each image reminds me of an event, an artist, or something that captured my imagination and made me smile.

Next time you're looking for some new wall art, look around. I'm sure you have some photos, mementos, and collections that would make a great collage!

Check out my other tutorials and articles:

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Garden-Inspired Wreath with Bird House and Flowers

How to Make a Folded Ribbon Door Wreath

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How to Hang Your Artwork to Create an Interesting Arrangement

Hording Stuff: A Creative Crafter's Best Tool

DIY Craft Project: Fall into the Holidays Wreath

Christmas Wall Hanging Using Vintage or Costume Jewelry

How to Decorate for the Holidays with Basic Frames

How to Make Christmas Ornaments From Recycled Greeting Cards

Easy Christmas Tree Ornaments Made With Oven Bake Clay

A Newbie's Guide to Needle Felting a Reindeer Christmas Ornament

Needle Felted Tree for Christmas or Everyday Decoration

Copyright © 2013 by Donna Herron. All rights reserved.