Create personalized mats for your favorite photos.
The photos you choose to display are likely the most personal part of your home decor, so it only makes sense to personalize the display, too. One easy way to do this is to make your own photo mat. A personalized photo mat allows you to bring additional meaning to your photo display while including words and other objects that have special meaning to you.
Instructions
1. Purchase a photo mat at any craft store (many department stores that sell photo frames also carry photo mats). They're available in a wide array of sizes, so be sure that the mat that you choose will fit the frame you are going to put it in, and check that the opening is the right size for the photo you are matting.
2. Paint the pre-made photo mat with the acrylic paint. It will take two coats of paint to properly coat the mat.
3. Select words to add to the mat. You want to enhance the photo that you plan to display in the mat with words. This may mean one or two powerful and meaningful words or it may mean an entire poem or proverb. If nothing comes to mind, try searching one of the links below for online quote collections (see Resources).
4. Check to see that the painted mat is dry. You will need to allow the mat to dry before moving on to apply anything else to the mat.
5. Add the words to the painted mat. For a truly personalized feel, use a paint pen to add the words to the mat. For those who do not like their own handwriting, there are other options including rubber stamps, stencils, and rub-on transfer letters.
6. Add other embellishments. This is where your creativity gets a chance to shine. The possibilities are endless. Embellishments may come from a craft store. The scrapbook section is a good place to look, but a better place to look is at home. When you start looking around and digging through your "junk" you may find more meaningful embellishments. Think a piece of lace from your mother's wedding dress or some sand from your trip to the beach that can be applied like glitter.
Tags: craft store, from your, place look, your photo