Amy's Cool Project

Always the artsy-crafty one in this family, Amy jumped with both feet into this fun and inexpensive photography project.  It looks finished, however the print peeled right off the backing a few hours after it was glued on.  We're in the process of rethinking this and coming up with an alternative fix.

But. Here's how you do it up to this point:

Take a nice b&w photo.  Save it on a flash drive and run down to your local Office Max.  Ask for a 3' x 4' engineer's print of your photo -- has to be black and white -- you can't get engineer's prints in color.  In less than five minutes you will see the big printer cranking out this awesome, huge photo.

Next, run across the highway to Wal*Mart for a little bottle of black craft paint and a can of Elmer's spray adhesive.

Stop next door at Home Depot and get a 4' x 8' piece of foam insulation.  Carefully wrangle it into (or onto) your vehicle, or do like we did -- ask an associate to cut it approximately in half for you so it will fit in your car.

When you get home, cut the foam the right size to back your print. An electric knife works nicely.

Paint the edges of the foam with black craft paint.

Take it all outside and spray the foam and the back of the print with the fixative, and let it dry for about a minute.  (We didn't do both sides, and we didn't let it dry long enough.)

With a helper, carefully line up one edge of the print with the edge of the insulation foam, and lay it down slowly, using a rolling pin to smooth out any air bubbles.

Make a hanger on the back side with wire and duct tape (who's going to see it??).   

Approximate cost:

print:     $8

insulation:      $10 (big enough for more than one project!)

paint:      $2

adhesive:      $4

Total, less than $24 for this big and wonderful faux-canvas for your living room wall.  You would pay big time to have a professional do it, but look how easy this is! 

(When we figure out how to get the print to stick, we'll let you know...)   :)

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