Monday, April 25, 2011

Fun Family Photo Cubes

It's true that I always have a 'what's next list'.  In fact, I started to plan a new arrangement for my giant apothecary jar two weeks ago.  I liked the black and white vintage look of my newsprint Easter eggs and decided to create a display with a similar feel.

I love family photos from past and present. Mr. StyleBurb recently organized all of our family pictures and burned them onto DVDs.  I wanted to somehow turn those pictures into black and white cubes for my apothecary jar.




I selected a wide variety of photos from our immediate and extended family. There are baby pictures of my husband and his sister next to baby pictures of our own three children.  You'll see that I used a combination of head shots and group shots for interest.





My idea for these photo cubes was hampered by my lack of technical skill, so I consulted my Personal Assistant (aka Mr. StyleBurb) to help kick start this project. If I can learn how to do this, anyone can... believe me!


Step 1  Gather copies of all the photos you want to use and crop them to be square.  A few group shots are good for variety, but the majority should be close-ups.

Step 2  Load the following template into your favorite photo editing program.


Click on this template to view it full size and then save it to your hard drive.


Step 3  Import your cropped photos on top of the cube template and resize them to fit within a square.


This is a screenshot of Photoshop Elements as the picture is being resized.


Tip: You can duplicate photographs on opposite sides of the cube.  Only one side will be visible at any given time.

Step 4  Print the finished sheet. I used a black and white laser printer.  By changing the printer settings you can make a variety of cube sizes.

Step 5  You'll need your second grade 3D geometry skills to cut, fold and tape/glue the flat sheet into a cube.





Here are my photo cubes ready to go...






I layered the bottom of the apothecary jar with green moss.






You see different photos from every angle.




A black and white picture of black and white pictures!





I will be joining these link parties this week:

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia Photobucket Transformation Thursday Transformation Thursday Transformation Thursday

51 Comments:

  1. I love it, how creative you are!! WOW! What an awesome way to display your precious photos of the kids/family. What program do you use to edit your pics, Photoshop? Have a great week :)

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  2. wow! Love it! Isn't it fun when your hubby can help you out with projects? I am a photo junkie, I might need to make a few hundred of these.

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  3. That is creative! I love them in the apothecary jar, but they also looked great just stacked on the table. Very, very clever!

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  4. Hello,

    That is awesome! Love how it came out and it looks beautiful in the jar.
    Claudia

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  5. What a great way to display photos! Thanks so much for showing us the process of making them. So cute!

    I have a weekly linky party called Terrific Under Ten Tuesdays. It's for projects made for $10 or less. I would love for you to link up sometime!

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  6. Now THAT is a fabulous idea!! And Mr. Styleburb is a real gem! Organizing the pics and burning them to cd's? He is awesome!!
    Now for you, AMAZING!! That is so original!! I would love to do this. But, when you say "just use your favorite photo editing software" you lose me. I couldn't edit my typing on this computer thing!! BUT, I could make a physical template and do it!! I'm going to try!
    xxDaniella

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  7. What a great idea! I love it and it looks perfect in your jar. Such a nice, stylish, homey touch. I have so many pictures and I never know what to do with them-perfect! Thanks for sharing the idea and the template!

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  8. I just love this idea. How original and they look great in the jar. What a great way to display your pics!
    Marianne :)

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  9. This is a wonderful idea, fun!!
    Thanks for sharing.
    Michele

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  10. OH MY GRACIOUS!!!!! Yvonne....I have no words.....except, GORGEOUS! I loooooove this project. Love, Love, LOVE IT! I'm bookmarking this for later. I wonder if I'm smart enough to do it? It's been many, many, MANY years since I had Geometry. So stinkin' cute! Thanks for sharing. Did I mention that I love it?

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  11. These are so cute - and You are so TALENTED! This is definitely a project that took some thought - thanks for doing such a great tutorial for us!

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  12. It‘s so nice that I found your blog about your link on 'My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia'. Of course I’ve scrolled a little and like what I see. Now I’m your new follower! ;)

    Take care
    Tine

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  13. How cute Yvonne! I just saw at my newbie party a gal made a big fabric cube with a baby pic on it. It was adorable too!

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  14. Great idea and very original! Perfect in the jar!
    Susan @ homeroad

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  15. This is a really cute idea. I did something similar for Christmas a couple of years ago, except I used mod podge to adhere the black & white photos to wood cubes (my hubby cut them for me). I attached screw eyes and hung mine from a light fixture in my kitchen, but they were intended to go on the tree. Yours look really cute in the apothecary jar, too!
    CAS

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  16. Oops, forgot to tell you that I'm a new follower!
    CAS

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  17. This is such a cute and unique idea! Love it!

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  18. Wow! How clever are you? Love it!
    Best Wishes and Blessings,
    Amanda

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  19. Thank you for such a clever idea! I can't wait to add this to my new house! :-)

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  20. Yvonne! That is an amazing idea!! I have never seen this before! You are one clever chick!! Love this!

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  21. I was just thinking what to do with my big jar after taking the Easter deco out! I think I may borrow this! My hubby burns all our pics on to CD's too....and keeps them on a seperated hard drive in a safe...LOL

    New follower here!

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  22. This is great! I just emptied a glass jar that was holding my twine Easter eggs and was thinking, "now what can I put back in there?" -- this is perfect!! Thanks for posting the template and instructions!

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  23. How creative!! I am loving this idea.
    xo,
    Sherry

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  24. Those are so neat!!! That's a wonderful idea!

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  25. genius! thank you for the inspiration and the instructions..well done!

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  26. OMG seriously?! Fantastic. I love this. I've never seen anything like it before. So creative!!!

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  27. I have seen something similar with wood blocks and modge podge but not printed like that. Great idea! And putting them in the jar is amazing! I found you on HOH!

    Ginger
    Literally Inspired

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  28. That is SUCH a neat idea! Great work!

    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

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  29. This is a fabulous idea!! I am a new follower and visiting from HoH! Hope you have a fabulous day!
    Michelle
    www.delicateconstruction.blogspot.com

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  30. Great idea. You are intelligent. Love this. Thanks for sharing.
    -family pictures

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  31. I love this - Im bookmarking it! Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier today.

    danielle

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  32. what a great idea!! that is just beautiful!! thanks for sharing your great project!

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  33. Awesome! I've been making 3D looking fridge frames with old picture frames. I'm going to add this to the mix! Perfect and so original! Thanks!

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  34. Great Idea~ I'll have to give this one a try~ Happy Spring! oxox, Diane

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  35. Love this idea & just shared it on Twitter! :-)

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  36. I totally love it! What a fab look ♥

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  37. OH SO CUTE CUTE CUTE!!! I love this idea! It's so original! I will definitely have to try this project...adding it to my summer "Fun Projects" list! Thanks Yvonne!

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  38. Thank you for the comment on my blog. I don't get many yet so it means a lot! I love this cube idea! So original and cute! May have to copy.

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  39. What a fun idea!! It looks so cute in your jar. Than you for visiting my blog and commenting!

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  40. Such a cool idea. thanks for linking to WUW.

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  41. Really cute idea..... this is going on my 'to do' list. Thanks for the tutorial!

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  42. Love these! Thanks so much for the tutorial! I featured these on my friday favorites!
    http://www.lilbitofus.com/2011/06/friday-favorites_23.html

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  43. What a fabulous idea! Thanks for the inspiration!!

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  44. I love the idea, but I've found an easier way to do this. Go to bighugelabs.com and it is done automatically for you. For those without photo editing software this will be much easier.

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  45. Love this idea! Am off to make some in Heritage Makers! Thanks for sharing!

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  46. I am trying to make this as a Christmas gift for my Mom, but I don't know how to fit the pictures into each cube without stretching the image and making the photo look too fat width-wize. I am using adobe photoshop elements 10.

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  47. I just love this! Sadly I'm not a photo person, so do not have many photos. But this could be used also to something else. Thank you!

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Thank you for your lovely comments! I appreciate each and every one!