We’re in the final preparations for my husband’s 40th birthday party at the end of this month and of course that means we’re digging out old photo albums. I have a few projects I’ll share here in the coming weeks for how we’ll display my husband’s trip down memory lane. Today, I’m sharing the rock photo holders I made for the tables.
We’re doing a concert theme since my husband is a big music fan and loves to go to concerts. The invitations were concert tickets. We didn’t want to do the whole “Over the Hill” or “40 Sucks” type of things – 40 is the new 30, right? Therefore – 40 ROCKS felt like a much better sentiment!
I made two versions of these photo holders made from rocks (get it “40 Rocks”?) – one that holds two photos and one that holds four. These are extremely simple and fast to make.
These would also be really cute done with earth tones or white rocks for a beach theme wedding or to display beach vacation photos in your house.
Supplies you’ll need:
- Rocks – I bought mine from Michael’s in the floral area for $3.99 per bag.
- Floral or Beading Wire – I used 20 gauge, I wouldn’t recommend any smaller but you could go a little larger.
- Wire Cutter
- Sharpie or other marker (optional) – I used mine for both curling the wires as well as writing on the rocks.
1) For the two photo holder, cut a length of wire about 24 inches – you can always trim later. Wrap the wire around the rock and then start twisting the two wires together as close to the top of the rock as you can get it. You can use the pliers to get this tighter. Keep twisting at least 3 inches up.
2) Take one of the wires and twist it around a marker or other similarly sized cylinder. I rolled/curled it around the marker at least 3 times. Repeat on the other wire. Depending on how tall you want your holders, you may need to unroll and trim the wire or roll down a few more times.
3) Insert your pictures. You’ll probably need to adjust the curls you made in the wire. It helps to make the loops inside each other so they are tighter. You have to play around with this a little. If the base doesn’t seem stable, you may want to twist your two wires together a few more times to make it more sturdy.
I wrote “40 Rocks” onto smaller rocks using a silver Sharpie. These will be leaned up against the photo holders. I initially planned to write them on the photo holders, but I liked this better in the end.
Here are the steps for doing the 4 photo holder.
1) Cut two 24″ wires. On the bottom side of the rock, twist the two wires together like it was the bottom of a present with one wire on each side. This is not easy to do since the rocks aren’t square like a package – that’s okay, it doesn’t need to be perfect.
2) Turn the rock over and twist the wires together. I split them into twos and twisted them together. Try to keep the bottom centered and the wires as tight against the rock as possible. Twist at least three inches up.
3) Curl your wires around the marker as indicated for the 2 photo holder.
4) Insert your pictures!
In the end, I actually preferred the 4 photo holders. They seemed more sturdy and the wires stayed in place better, plus they of course hold more photos! Both versions were extremely fast though. After the first one, they each took me about 10 minutes. Inexpensive and fast – can’t beat that!
More projects to come from the party planning – including a “40” photo collage and how to frame t-shirts. I hope I can get them all done!
Hi! I’ve really enjoyed looking through your blog, so I’ve nominated you for a Liebster Award.
http://crafthill.wordpress.com/
Thank you! I’m just getting started, so hoping to continually improve. I enjoyed reading your “abouts” in your Liebster post!