I just love looking at old family photos. They stir warm memories of my childhood and I often look for creative ways to display them rather than keep them closed up in books or stuffed in boxes.
Several years ago after spotting an old wooden shutter in a magazine display ad I began searching for one to alter. I thought a shutter would make a wonderful vintage-style photo display. I could envision old, worn paint; faded writing; a pretty knob or two; old carpenter rulers; and, of course, old family photos hanging from it.
It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be to find these old shutters. I frequented garage sales, flea markets and antique fairs in my search. If the project turned out like I envisioned, it would be something I would offer as a class so I needed at least 7-10.
As luck would have it, I came across a grouping of shutters last July that were perfect for my project – about 7-9 inches wide and 28 inches tall. I asked Dennis to power wash them for me and not be gentle about it – I wanted some paint taken off and some grooves dug into the wood. He did a perfect cleanup job and they really looked old and worn when he got done! Then, much to his chagrin, they sat in the garage on a shelf – waiting for inspiration to strike.
That finally happened this past weekend when I went to Sunset Shores with a friend for a mini retreat. I took several projects to work on, but the altered shutter was my priority. I love vintage-style items and that was the look I was going for, so I also took my stash of Tim Holtz Idea-ology and tons of Ranger products, old pattern tissue paper, door knobs and drawer pulls, rubber stamps and inks.
The project turned out even better than I expected and it has quickly become one of my favorite scrapped treasures. Nobody ever said all your photos need to be in books – I love having them on display and this piece will have a special spot in my home.
