A string of photographs and patterned triangles clipped to a line against a white wall.

How to Make a Photo Garland (Photo Bunting)

Dive into a simple yet stylish DIY creative project with this tutorial for putting together your own festive photo bunting or garland.

Are you looking to make a photo garland?

Here’s an easy way to do it with a small budget and just a few steps.

Photo garlands (also known as photo bunting) are a great way to decorate your house for a party or just a festive way to display your photos.

Imagine hanging a garland featuring your newborn’s photo session over the baby’s crib, for example.

Are you ready to get started? Let’s go!

Materials

Crafting materials and a photo laid out on a cutting mat.

  • Photo mats or white card stock
  • Color or patterned paper
  • Cutter
  • Scissors
  • Cutting mat
  • Photos
  • Twine
  • Small clothespins (or pegs)
  • Scrapbook tape

Process

In this example, I’m using postcard-size photos, but you can follow these steps for any size of photo and garland.

Remember that deciding on a colour palette is useful to obtain a more harmonious look.

Step 1

Blank white paper on a gray cutting mat.

If you have photo mats that are already the right size for your photos, you can skip directly to step number four.

Otherwise, cut the card stock to a slightly bigger size than your photographs. If you’re using 4 x 6″ photos, I advise you to cut the card stock to approximately 5 x 7″.

You’ll need twice as many card stock pieces as you have photos because the idea is to paste them together to form envelopes.

Step 2

A craft knife and cut-out paper frames on a cutting mat.

You’ll need to cut out a window on half of the card stock pieces to display the photos. This should be slightly smaller than your photograph to hold it inside.

Step 3

A box of photo tape next to an open empty scrapbook on a grey cutting mat.

Next, take one of the full card stock pieces and one with a window. Using Scotch or scrapbook tape, paste three sides of them together, forming an envelope.

Repeat this step with all of them.

Step 4

A collection of printed photographs showing moments from a family's life spread out on a table.

Now, mount each photo on its own envelope or photo mat, according to what you’re using.

If needed, you can use scrapbook tape or mounting corners to hold the photos in place.

Step 5

A hand holding a paper airplane with a floral pattern over a cutting mat.

Once all your photos are ready, it’s time to assemble the color elements. You have more freedom with these – you can use any size and shape you want.

I’m using origami paper and folding it into a triangle. To do so, I mark the center on one of the edges. Then, I fold the sides as if I were forming a cone.

Then, I flatten the shape and pass my thumb over the fold to keep it in shape without using tape.

Repeat this until you have enough elements to put one after each photo when you assemble the garland.

Step 6

A patterned paper origami bird suspended from a string against a tiled background.

Take the twine and start assembling the garland or bunting. I’m using small clothespins, but you can use another method.

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Make sure there’s more or less enough space between each element.

Step 7

Three photographs hanging from a string against a white wall, secured by colorful clothespins.

That’s it. Now, it’s time to hang your garland.

Make a loop on each side of the twine and use nails to hang it on the wall. If you don’t want to use nails, you can use special tape or clay to hang things on the wall without damaging the paintwork.

Have fun making your own festive photo bunting!

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