Try This: Mineral Photo Display

Wanna know something crazy? In a few short months Trey and I are going to be celebrating our one-year anniversary. Does it make me old/cliche if I say, "Where does all the time go?!"

But seriously. Where does all the time go?

You'd think I would have plastered the walls of our home with all sorts of wedding photo projects by now. But actually, I haven't. I did put together a wedding album, two mother's albums, and a wood transfer that is displayed on our bedroom dresser. But other than that we really don't have any wedding photos hanging up in our home. Missed opportunity, don't you think? Time to remedy the situation.

I really wanted to create a little display that incorporated two of my loves: photos and crystals. I love these pretty green (calcite) crystals I found on Etsy. I highly recommend shopping for crystals online or at a mineral trade show to find colors you love. If crystals just aren't your thing, you could totally create a similar display using favorite found rocks. Go on a hike and see what you find! This project is in collaboration with Canon USA. I used our MG7120 to print my wedding photos.

But first, let's make our display. You really don't need me to tell you how to make this. It's pretty obvious. But I do have a couple of tips for you. First, use an odd number of crystals/rocks. This will make it easier for you to layer them in front of each other. Second, you'll want needle-nose pliers for this project. You don't want your cut wire ends to stick out too much. Needle-nose pliers will allow you to bend the wire in on itself much more than you'll be able to if you're just working with your hands.

Create loops at the top of the wire to hold a photo. Easy!

I used small 3" x 4" scrapbooking cards to help me plan my display. I didn't want to use photos while I was still planning out my design because I didn't want to damage my photos while I was still figuring out how high or tight my wires needed to be.

Once I had a display I was happy with, I knew I could use these papers to cut out my photos, filling in the space exactly how I wanted.

I printed multiple photos onto one sheet of photo paper. I decided to use all black and white wedding photos to keep the display feeling cohesive and draw more attention to the emerald color of my crystals.

As I cut out my photos, I decided to add rounded edges. Just for fun. Are rounded edges still cool? (Don't answer that. Just go with it.) This project was super simple and probably took about 15 minutes once I had all my supplies.

I love how it turned out, and I can't wait to use this display in my home for years to come. But, if I do get tired of it ,I can always just remove the wire and still have access to my pretty crystals. :) Thanks for letting me share. xo. Emma

Credits // Author: Emma Chapman, Photos by: Sarah Rhodes and Emma Chapman. Photos edited with Color Pop of the Signature Collection.