This month, Michaels asked the Michaels Makers team to create something perfect for Mother’s Day. I know my mom loves pictures, especially ones of her grandbabies, so I made this wooden photo hanging display. It’s perfect for large sized poster prints or collages, this one pictured is a 11×16.
This was a tricky challenge for me. The biggest reason: my mom is really crafty. While she’d love whatever I made, she would probably be most happy if I handed her a Michaels gift card instead and told her to go crazy with it. But as much as she’d like that, I know she loves photos of her favorite child, favorite son-in-law, and their adorable children, so I went with this display. It is easy to change out, so when I get one where we’re all looking, I can swap this for a new picture.
To make the photo display, I first ordered a poster sized print of our family. This one is a 11×16 but if your mom really likes you, you can print a 24×36 inch sized poster print.
I grabbed balsa wood from the hobby section at Michaels and cut it with a miter saw down to 12″ lengths. You can stain the wood at this stage; I liked the natural color so I simply coated it with a clear acrylic sealant.
Next, you’ll want to grab your magnets and hot glue them to the wood. Make sure to line up sticks when adding your glue dots, BUT separate them before adding the magnets. (If you don’t, your magnets will attract, rip off the wood, and make a glue-y mess!) Another tip, use strong magnets (black in color), but not super, super, super strong neodymium magnets (metal) like the ones pictured. These were too strong and almost resulted in injuries, totally not joking. Since this is for Mother’s Day, I’m pretty sure you don’t want to hurt your mom with her present.
Tie a string on one of the top sticks for hanging.
Lay your poster on top of the back strips, let the magnets attract, and attach the front strips.
Here’s the photo hanging in our family room, near the front door. Hmm, maybe I’ll keep this one and surprise my mom with the giant 2 foot by 3 foot print… 😉
Another part of her present were these lovely yellow tulips I’m using for staging purposes.
She liked my tulip arrangement from last month’s Michaels Makers post so much, I made one for her in her favorite color!
If you’d like to see how to make your own, visit this post how to make a DIY Tulip Arrangement. I love giving and receiving fresh flowers, I know my mom does too. However, these blooms and the faux water they’re in will last a LOT longer!
Michaels has everything you need to craft the perfect handmade gift that will make your Mom’s day. If you don’t know where to begin, you can always take a look at some of the fun projects on Michaels.com or the other 49 Makers’ ideas on The Glue String for to see how they personalized their crafts!
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Michaels Stores. I am one of their “Michaels Makers” project creators and was provided with store credit to purchase products to craft this post. All ideas and opinions are my own, and I only recommend products I use or would purchase.
