Project: Ribbon Photo Display

It's a blazing heat in Spokane this weekend (upper 90s), which is unbelievable considering it was 50 degrees just two weeks ago.  As we enjoy our new window AC units, I worked on a couple of projects.  The one I want to talk about is our new ribbon photo display.  Before our wedding, we stocked up on some cheap clearance photo frames (they were a dollar each), thinking we might use them as a photo display of baby pictures, other family wedding photos, etc.  That project fell by the wayside as our suitcases became filled with more important items, and I've been wanting to figure out a way to use them since.  Using the Martha Stewart idea of a ribbon photo display for weddings, I went at it, using materials I mostly already had.  What resulted was a cheap, beautiful way to display photos. If you want to do this as well, you only need the following supplies:

-plastic or wooden frames (nothing too heavy)
-thick ribbon
-staple gun
-chipboard or cardboard cut into 1-inch squares
-floral or craft wire
-scissors

We decided to put up pictures from our honeymoon, at least one picture per place we visited.  **As a side note, when I started this project, the glass was left in all the frames.  After I broke the glass on a few, I went and took out the glass of the remaining frames.  It still looks good, and I didn't need to worry about the puppies stepping on glass.  It was very easy to break the glass, let me tell you. **

Our photos and their rough layout/order 

Step 1)  First, I cut my ribbon so that I had about 5 inches overlap of the top and bottom of the frames.  I then evenly spaced the frames within those parameters.  As you can see, I had a mix of frames that were 4x6 and 5x7.  I put 3 frames per ribbon for two of the ribbons and  2 frames on one ribbon (to go in the middle).

Figuring out the spacing and layout 

Step 2)  Using the staple gun,  I stapled the ribbon to the tops and bottoms of the frame.  I used cardboard from a box we had lying around as a buffer, so the frame did not splinter.  This is when I learned about how the glass should be kept out of the frames (Martha did not mention that).  If I didn't use enough force, the staples wouldn't go into the frames.

The stapled pieces

Step 3) When the frames have been stapled to the ribbon, take the top 3 inches or so and fold back.  About 2.5 inches down, pinch together to make a loop and secure with the wire.  From that wire, make an additional small loop.  This wire loop is what will hang from the nail when you hang the ribbon.  To hide the bright green wire we had, I took another ribbon ( I used a separate ribbon/color, but you can also use the same ribbon that you are attaching to the frames), and made a bow around the wire.

Closeup once they have been stapled.  You can't even tell which has glass and which doesn't of these two photos.

Justin models the first one I finished.  You can see the bow.  I apologize for our darkened room, there is only so much a window unit can cool. 

And the two hanging displays, until I can get more ribbon. 

This now looks wonderful as it's hanging in our upstairs hallway.  I sadly ran out of ribbon, and need to get some more for the last few photos, but here is what it currently looks like.  Overall, this project was less than 20 dollars including everything.  I hope you found this helpful!