Easy and affordable gallery wall

We updated our hallway upstairs with a pretty rug.

Our current wall decor didn't match the rug,

so I started thinking about an easy way to change it.

I came up with this gallery wall using simple black & white pictures of our children.

It was very cheap, fast and easy...

So I will share what I did.

First, I selected some pictures of my girls that I really like.

They were all taken in different settings, and they were wearing different colors,

so I changed the pictures to black and white for a more uniform look.

I also took pictures of their hands.

Then, I got some frames at the $ store:

11 by 14 document frames for the large pictures, and 5 by 7 frames for the small ones.

Since I wanted to add some color,

I used Picasa to do that:

1. Create a picture collage in Picasa (option: Picture pile)
2. Pick the right size (for me 11 by 14)
3. Pick "solid color" for your background and select a color.
4. Add the picture of your choice: you can drag it to the right position and resize it if necessary.

I saved it and added their names (in the same color as the background) on top of the picture.

Then I just had the whole picture printed. No need to mat the picture, since that is already a part of the picture. 

A very easy way to customize the colors with your decor. 

The added names add to the customized look...

Simple, right?!

I hung the pictures, but something wasn't quite right yet:

I didn't like how everything was centered around the thermostat, so to distract from it, 

I used some vinyl and my Silhouette Cameo to create this little owl.

Now the thermostat isn't the center of attention anymore :)