She's Crafty - Christmas Mailbox Leftovers

Happy first Thursday of the New Year :) I hope you had a great celebration with family and friends over Christmas and New Years. We had a great time with family and several days off work. Always a good combination and a refreshing way to enter a new season.

Many of you know that one of my favorite things in every day is checking the mailbox. Not hotmail or gmail, but the actual REAL mailbox. For as long as I can remember I have looked forward to checking the mail, and anticipate each day the possibility of getting something personal from someone I care about. In college, I would check the mailbox twice a day, just in case I missed something  the first time through (which did happen on occasion. Those were good days.) Now that school is over and the most I receive in a given week is basket fulls of trash, coupon books and bills, I still look forward to checking it every day: just in case.

Needless to say, after Thanksgiving passes and the Christmas season begins, the mailbox becomes like "the cherry on top", or coffee and a great dessert. Chances that there will be a personal note increase 85% after December 1st. *sigh* I love it.

But once Christmas is over, and January rolls around, the question becomes, "What to do with all the great pictures of friends and family that came with those Christmas greetings?"

This year, I decided to make something useful to decorate my home with, and put them to good use. It's a quick, easy, scrapbook like craft that doesn't require much outside of what a basic craft supply closet might have (or a quick trip to Michaels).

Picture Collage

Supplies: Scrapbook paper, Glue stick, hot glue gun, light weight cardboard, cardstock, Photos, Scissors, hole punch, embellishments (ribbon, buttons, stamps, etc.)

 Step 1 - Collect the pictures you'd like to save

 Step 2 - Choose the scrapbook paper for your collage

 Step 3 - Glue the photos on the paper leaving room to frame the photos with the paper. Then cut them out. (Hint: I used a light glue stick that will allow for the removal of the photos from the paper at a later time if I wish to save them. Also, by having the paper on the back of each photo, the photos are protected from the tape in step 5).

 Step 4 - Prepare some accent pieces. I used stamps, paper, ribbon and sticky buttons

             

                             

 Step 5 - Arrange the photos in any shape you'd like. I chose to keep my collage with square edges, but circles, wreaths, or random placement would also be cute. I then simply used tape to join the backs of the photos together.

 Step 6 - In order to add extra support to the collage since I am not going to frame this one, I cut and used double sided tape to glue card stock on the back side of the taped collage.

Step 7 - Hanging: I had a 12 inch circular piece of cardboard (from the cake decorating aisle at Michaels) in which I punched a small hole for hanging. (Another option would be the cardboard from a new calendar, or cardstock, staples and a ribbon). You can also use a box cutter to slit a horizontal line from the side of the hole to allow for adjusting if the collage is not weighted evenly. Then glue to the center of the back of the collage. 

 Step 8 - Lastly, lightly hammer a stick pin into the wall and hang! Cute, fun, easy, and no mess if you change your mind and no longer want it on the wall or if you decide it looks better in another room!

 That should keep me until the mail next Christmas!