Vacation souvenirs

Sand from the desert, a tree leaf from the Nordic forests, shells, stones, but also handmade souvenirs from vacation destinations can be given a new home with a display case. And not just these: Of course, you can also give other important objects a place in a box: For example, the petals of your bridal bouquet - cast in synthetic resin.

However, you should not place the box on the wall in the farthest corner of your home. Instead, look for a more exposed location - only then will your souvenirs really come into their own. Answer the following questions beforehand:

• How many objects do I want to showcase?
• Do I want to paint or glaze the display case?
• How heavy are the pieces I want to display?

If you have a lot of small treasures that you want to display, you should also equip the display case with a corresponding number of compartments. If there are few but larger objects, you can limit yourself to just a few compartments. The size of the wall also plays a role: a small display case in front of a large area may not really come into its own. Either design the display case accordingly or make several cases and hang them next to each other. If you want to varnish or glaze the wood, it is best to do this before gluing them together.

Get enough wood (planed spruce or fir wood) of the appropriate thickness (36 x 15 mm) and an appropriately sized board as a back panel and wood glue. Think beforehand about how the interior should be divided up (boxes of the same size or different sizes). Sketch the design and measure the different lengths.

You will need the following tools and aids

• Saw
• Clamp/corner clamp
• Measuring tape/ruler
• pencil
• Abrasive
• Suspension (screws, eyelets)

Step1: Mark the lengths of the pieces of wood with the pencil and saw them to size with a jigsaw.

Step 2: Smooth the edges with sandpaper.

Step 3: Lay out the back panel, apply glue to the narrow sides of the wooden pieces and fix them in place with clamps or corner clamps.

Step 4: Once the glue has dried, remove the clamps, coat the entire frame with glue and position it on the back panel. Fix the frame in place and allow the glue to dry again.

Step 5: Proceed in the same way with the pieces of wood for the interior partitioning.

If you are attaching the finished box to the wall, choose appropriately strong screws, as many souvenirs, especially stones, are comparatively heavy. Then fix the eyelets to the wall with the screws, hang up the box and fill it.

Hand and footprints

3D plaster casts of your children's hands and feet are great memories. If you make prints regularly, you can even create a small gallery on your wall that also documents the development of your offspring. When babies have long since become teenagers, this decorative idea will keep the memories of baby or toddler days alive. The prints are often not shown off to their best advantage when simply attached to the wall. It is better to give them a frame.

Before you set to work and attach the prints to the wall, first ask yourself:

• How many prints do I want to hang?
• How much space is available?
• Do I want to color the frames?

If you want to arrange several hand/footprints, think beforehand about whether you want to place all the objects in one frame or whether you want to make a separate frame for each print. The depth of the objects is also important: If the prints are relatively thick, narrow, thin frames tend not to work. The frame should always be slightly deeper than the print. You can glue the frame(s) together yourself from wooden strips or, if you prefer antique models, you can find them at a flea market. If you have a narrow section of wall and would like to mount several objects in individual frames, it is advisable to position them one below the other. If you have a lot of space, it is a good idea to place the prints next to each other. You will need the following for mounting

• one or more frames,
• a drill,
• spirit level,
• pencil,
• hot glue,
• long screws,
• eyelets.
  

Step1: Mark the suspension points of the frame using the spirit level and a pencil.

Step2: Now screw the screws into the marked points. The screws must protrude far enough out of the wall for the frame to rest securely.

Step3: Decide where you want to place the print(s). Use hot glue to attach an eyelet to the object (at the point where the print rests against the wall).

Step4: Hang up the frame and place the print in position.

Photos and pictures

There are almost endless possibilities for skillfully staging photos. You should first consider the following:

• Is it a single photo or several motifs?
• Are the proportions correct (in relation to the wall and the furniture)?
• Are the walls colored or white?
• Should the photos be hung horizontally or vertically?
• Should the motifs be the same size or different sizes?

First of all, make sure that your photos are hung at eye level so that they have the best possible effect. Take into account whether the photos are to be seen standing or sitting. If you want to hang your photos vertically at the same height, you can also dispense with screws and nails and use a gallery rail or picture wire to attach the motifs. You also have various options here: You can hang your photos individually, or several at the same time in edge hanging or grid hanging.

If you want to place a large photo in the center, you can hang smaller motifs with similar content elsewhere in the room. Example beach: The best thing to do is to choose your favorite motif, which should attract attention as a soloist. Depending on the space available and your taste, you can, for example, have one (or more) other, much smaller photos taken that take up other aspects of the same motif (close-ups, shells) and hang the framed photos on the wall, communicating with each other.

Picture rails

With picture rails, on the other hand, you attach a shelf or board to the wall and decorate it with different motifs. Again, you should pay attention to proportions: Small, short shelves don't look particularly good on a long wall; unless you hang several shelves in a row. You can create clarity and structure by using photos of the same size and frames and placing the photos at regular intervals from one another. However, you can also design the shelf flexibly - with photos of different sizes, with and without frames. You can also make photo holders and place them on the shelf. At the same time, it's best to leave some space to add a few decorative accessories such as sand, shells or dried flowers. If you want to arrange a lot of photos, you might like an "orderly chaos", the Petersburg hanging: Here, many motifs are placed close together without following an axis, whereby the structure hardly plays a role. Nevertheless, you should consider a few aspects to ensure that your photo gallery looks good: For example, you should take frames of the same style (wood, metal, antique) or pay attention to a theme (portraits, nature shots) for the motifs.

Petersburg hanging - step by step

You will need:

• Wall paint, brushes and accessories,
• Lots of photos in different sizes,
• A corresponding number of frames,
• nails, screws,
• tools,
• spacers,
• thread.

Step1: Paint the wall in question in a uniform color and let it dry.

Step2: First arrange the pictures on the table or floor, forming a horizontal line in a row, possibly also a vertical line.

Step3: The spacing should be the same: Therefore, think about how far apart the individual photos should be and look for a suitable object to use as a spacer (matchbox, wooden blocks).

Step4: Tighten the threads for the horizontal (and possibly vertical) imaginary line on the wall.

Step5: Start with the motifs along the imaginary lines and hang them in rows next to or below each other. Arrange the remaining pictures and make sure they are equally spaced.