For the past several months, I’ve been collecting frames to build a gallery wall. I knew where I wanted it and what I wanted it to look like, but actually building it was another story. For one thing, I didn’t have the right combo of photos to fill the nine frame setup I envisioned.

That changed in November when I contacted my friend Amanda with Mermaid Lake Photography and had family photos taken in December. They were beautiful and perfect for my gallery wall vision.

I selected nine of the images and had them printed by Mpix in black and white. The frames I selected were gallery frames from Target that are sized for an 8×8 photo, which is a size Mpix offers. (Ignore the terrible quality of my cell phone pics below)

I placed the photos in the frames and then pre-arranged them on the floor before hanging them on the wall. To get them evenly spaced on the wall, I used a measuring tape and a ruler. I’m pretty intense about things being even so that took a little time. I used the backs of the frame boxes as templates before placing the actual frames on the wall. To attach them, I used my old stand by, 3M Picture Hangers. They’re the velcro strips and they work great, plus they don’t mess up the walls which I love. It’ll also be easy to take them down and switch out photos as Hartley gets older and our family changes.

 

All in all, the entire project was around $150 (not including the photo session costs) and ended up amazing! If you don’t already, print your photos. Children today are going to have their memories living only on electronic devices and that’s not as stable as having them printed. All it takes is one phone or memory card breaking and the images are gone. Don’t make that mistake.

If you’re interested in creating your own gallery wall, here’s a list of products I used and a cost breakdown:

• 8×8 Gallery Frames: $12.99 each from Target
• 8×8 prints: $2.29 each from Mpix.com
• 3M Picture Hanging Strips: $9.99 from Amazon for 14 pairs (These can also be purchased from Target or Walmart for a comparable price)