DIY Photo Display {Using Copper Wire and Clay}

You guys, I am so so excited to share this DIY photo display I’ve been working on.  You see, I’ve been trying to come up with a unique and fun way to display photos on my barnwood dining room shelves.

I’ve been struggling to find exactly what I want to use as a photo display.  I’ve tried to come up with a few ideas, but, nothing seemed to work.

If you saw my last post where I made DIY garden markers, I found a whole stash of old copper wire in my basement that is just waiting for me to do something crafty with.  Plus, I have my newest addiction, oven-baked clay.

They seemed like the perfect marriage to make a photo display that fit the rustic barnwood shelves.

They came out perfectly!!  Look at how pretty they look on those gorgeous barnwood shelves!

The copper wire really stands out against the color of the baked clay and the black and white photo.  Plus, it complements the rustic feel of the wood.

Even though I swear I sound like a broken record every post, these were really so very easy to make.  Bonus: I convinced Liam to play with play-doh next to me while mama played with grown up play-doh 😉

Supplies needed:

• Oven-baked clay and letter stamps {same as from the DIY garden markers post to make the base of the photo display}
• Copper wire
• Needle-nose pliers {or something to help manipulate the cooper wire}
• Wire cutters
• Dark gray paint {I used General Finishes Driftwood Milk Paint}
• Your favorite pictures!! {mine were printed 4×6 that I cut down}

I started by rolling the clay into a ball.  The pack comes with 4 smaller sections and I used about 1.5 of these sections per display base.

I then rolled the ball in the palms of my hands, just like if you were making a snake out of play-doh.  I wanted into to be in more of a “cone” shape.

Once I had the cone shape, I pushed one end firmly against the table so as to make a flat surface.  You want to have at least one end flat so that the photo display has a proper base.

The other end I lightly tapped down a few times to make it flatter, but not as flat as the base.  You can totally do whatever shape you want here, so long as you have one end flat.

What even is that shape, you ask?  I have no clue.  But, I went with it 🙂

Next, I poked a hole with one of the copper wire about 1/2 way through the clay.  You want to just push it in then take it directly out, not wiggling side to side at all.  You want the wire to fit as closely against the clay as you can so the picture doesn’t move around.

Next, I got out the letter stamps.  I love how open-ended these stamps are.  You can use them to make so many fun DIY projects.

I chose to make 3 photo displays and used the words “us”, “family” and “love”.  The smaller the word, the easier it is to imprint on the clay.

The letters just click together, it’s amazing!

Since “family” was the biggest word, I actually couldn’t just press the letters on the clay directly.  I had to start on one end {shown below} and roll it around the clay to the other end.  You want to do this without lifting the letters from the clay, so that the letters are equally spaced.

Don’t press too hard!!  If you don’t like how it looks, you can always start over 🙂

Once I had stamped the words, I baked the clay according to the directions on the pack.

After they had baked and cooled off, I got to work on painting them.

I knew I wanted a color that would contrast the copper wire and I loved the dark gray “driftwood” color.

Using an old t-shirt, I got a fairly decent amount of paint and rubbed all over the clay, being sure to fill in the place where the letters are.

{try not to get too much paint in the hole at the top for the copper wire}

Once it was adequately covered, I used the other half of the old t-shirt to wipe any excess off.  Be sure to wipe around the letters, too.

They look PERFECT.  It’s like they’re little stones with words etched into them.

Now it was on to the copper wire…

I cut 3 pieces about a foot long each using the wire cutters.  Be careful, the wire can be sharp!! {also, please don’t use active copper wire!!}

I first made a loop about 3/4 of the way down the wire.

I pulled the loop tight to make a small circle.  This is what will be displayed on the front of the picture.

I then wrapped the remaining wire around the long piece 2 times.

This can be difficult to do.  The wire is very stiff and hard to manipulate.  Use needle nose pliers for extra help and be careful!!

I tested it out with a picture to make sure I liked the look.

Then, I twisted the wire up the back of the photo and down again toward the base of the photo and cut the remaining extra wire.

Finally, this little blob is what you end up with!

Make sure both parts of the wire are basically touching so that the photo fits snuggly inside.

I had 4×6 pictures printed and cut them down to about 3×3.  You don’t have to do this.  You can really use whatever size you want, just adjust the copper wire accordingly.

Lastly, insert the other end of the wire into the hole in the clay photo base.

This is what I ended up with:

WAYYYY too long.

MUCH better.

I am so in love with how they turned out.

They look so sweet next to each other!  Although, they aren’t next to each other on the shelves.  I don’t want to show you too much of those shelves JUST yet.  Those will be a surprise sometime soon 😉

Have you guys tried oven-baked clay yet?  Or decorating with copper wire?  I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas.

I hope you love these photo holders as much as I do.

I can’t wait to show you the finished barnwood dining rooms shelves in a few weeks!!

Thanks for stopping by, sweet friends!

Wishing you a joyful day!