Photo Collage

Few days back was my parent’s Wedding Anniversary and I was too confused about how to make it more special for them. After going through so much of thinking, I decided to make a photo collage for them. When I thought of making this collage, I didn't had an idea that it will turn out to be so beautiful. My parents just loved the whole idea of this Photo Collage. Today, I will be sharing this beautiful DIY Photo Collage with you all.

The process of making this photo collage is very simple, you just have to be careful of all the measurements. The basic thing that you will need for this are some old newspapers, cardboards and some old magazines. All these things are so easy to get around your house and you don’t have to buy anything from outside. Before starting with the process, the measurements that are used here can be changed as per your need so feel free to customize this photo collage. This photo collage is like a tree which has its roots, stem and branches so we will make it in that way. Let’s begin with the process without any further delay.

Firstly, prepare thin tubes out of old newspapers. Make sure that you make tubes very thin and it should not be too thick as it will create trouble while we coil them. Now we will make a stand for the photo collage and this stand will hold the entire collage in place so this must be quite strong and firm. Take any circular tube or object and start coiling the newspaper tubes around it. We will need circular coil of diameter 15 cm so just keep on joining the ends of the tubes. After coiling 4-5 tubes, just remove the circular object from the center very carefully without disturbing the coil and then continue making coil further. Now take tube or roller and roll it on coil on both sides to make the surface even. Once done, make a dome out of this coil with your fingers and make sure that coil remain intact at its place. Apply glue all over the dome and let it rest for a bit. The root of the collage is ready and next we will make its stem.

For this next step, you can use newspapers as well as magazines. We will make a pole that will hold the photographs of this collage. For this, I am using magazine pages. Stack 5-6 pages of the magazine and roll them to form a hollow cylinder. Thickness of the stem should be equal to the hole at the center of the coil that we have prepared in the previous step. Apply glue all over the tube to make it more secure.

We will make four branches of the collage two one each side of the stem. For this we will need cardboard and cutter. Cut four strips of the cardboard of length 32 cm and width 6.5 cm. also along with this, prepare two small coils of diameter 4 cm and make it a dome out of them with your fingers.

We will need photo frames to insert photographs and for this photo collage we will be making four photo frames with cardboard.          Draw two small square of side 10 cm on a cardboard and cut it with the cutter. On one square, draw another small square of side 9 cm leaving 1 cm gap from each side and cut it. Now again draw 2 strips of length 10 cm and width 1 cm and one strip of length 8 cm and width  1 cm. Cut all the strips. We have to just assemble all the parts of the photo frame. Paste 10 cm long strips on two opposite sides of the square that has hollow space in the middle and paste 8 cm long strip between both the 10 cm strips on any remaining side of the square. Lastly, paste the second square on to the pasted strips and do make sure to apply glue only on the strips to paste the square in place. Paste thin magazine tubes on the frame as shown it the image to decorate it. Do this on all the sides. Prepare three more such frames of exactly same size. Color them with black pearl colors.

We are done with all the parts of our collage and now we will assemble them. For joining the parts, it is very important that you use such kind of glue which can hold the entire collage firmly. I will recommend using hot glue gun for assembling purpose but you can use any other strong glue as well. We will start with the root and stem then will go towards the branches of the collage. Firstly, color the paper tube and dome with magenta pearl color. Insert the end of thick tube of paper into the hole at the center of the dome. Secure this with the glue at the top and bottom of the tube. Use paper clips to flatten the tube by clipping it all over with the clips as shown in the image. Remove paper clips after sometime and we will now work on the branches of the collage. At the top of the tube, paste one strip of cardboard behind the tube as shown in the image. Take another strip and paste it just above the tube and on the previously pasted strip. You have to join both the strips together with the glue. Do exactly the same thing with other two tubes. Now color the surface of the strips with blue color as shown in the image.

Take a green color foam sheet and prepare four small “roses” out of it. Paste these roses on each photo frame at four corners. Attach these photo frames on the blue strips on both the sides of the tube (stem). I will recommend that before pasting photo frames on the collage, you must insert photo graphs into it as it will be quite problematic afterwards. Take two small domes that we have prepared earlier and join them keeping curvy side outwards. Paste this joined domes at the top end of the tube (stem). Basic collage is ready, we just have to decorate it. I have made it for my parents that’s why I have decorated it with hearts saying “Best Parents”. You can customize it as per your purpose of giving it. I have prepared a small frill of triangles with paper and yarn. Rest I have used some golden leaves and flowers to give it a shiny look.

The process of making this photo collage is little long but trust me it will look super cool and beautiful. It will be a best gift that you can give to anyone special. Do try this amazing DIY for anyone who is special for you.

Happy DIY!!