DIY fake photo canvas for zero dollar | Frugal home decor idea

Staying in rental apartment means paying a high price for damaging walls due to several holes.  So I came up with a solution and decided to add our photos and personalize our living room and our apartment by putting up fake photo canvases.

Fake photo canvas?  Yes, and this is using Thermocol (aka Styrofoam).  Again.  (The previous wall decor idea gluing a paper over Styrofoam sheet).

A plain, boring, blank wall in the living room needed something to liven it up.  There are several different ways you can personalize and decorate your space with canvases, prints, paints, silhouettes and so on.  For this time, I chose to add photo canvases.

Thanks to Walgreens and their frequent FREE 8x10 photo collage print deals (regular price $4.49) because of which over a period of time I got my three 8x10 photos printed on a great quality photo paper with a glossy finish for FREE.

I had several Styrofoam sheets at home that came with some furniture we had bought at the start of the year.  I saved all types of sizes and thickness of Styrofoam sheets with me since I use them for food photography too.  So this was basically for FREE too.

I received the purple tissue paper in a gift bag, had plenty A4 sheets, ruler, pencil, paint, glue, scotch tape, and paper cutter - all stationery items at home without the need of buying anything new specifically for this photo canvas project.  FREE, again.

All I had to do was cut the thermocol sheet to exact 8x10 size.  From my previous DIY decor project I learned that tissue paper does not stick neatly over thermocol using glue because it is a thin delicate paper and tears easily.  So I first glued thin strips of white paper on the borders of my 8x10 thermocol canvas, then glued thin strips of the purple tissue paper.  Then I taped the photo onto the sheet - and there, my first FAKE photo canvas was ready.

Then I wanted to have a black border for my photo canvas.  Since I did not have a black paper, after I neatly glued the thin strips of A4 sheet and let it dry, I painted black paint over the paper.  One or two coats until it looked good.  Then taped my photo onto it, and a decent looking fake photo canvas was ready.   I have not tried using Mod Podge over these photos for the fear of spoiling them but I have read some people use it over canvases as it acts like a transparent glue .  

To see how I should place the three photo canvases on the wall, I taped A4 sheets in random combinations.  The clear scotch tape I used is the kind that sticks and removes easily and does not damage the surface.  I use the same to tape the thermocol sheets onto the wall.  It has been months and none of my frugal wall decors have come off even once, so it's pretty good.

 And now - look at the difference in the blank wall and one with our photos.  I might add some painted paper flowers (a tutorial on that too some time later - IF you want!) on the wall around the photo canvas once I start to get bored with just this.  One project at a time to give a new look to a wall or change position of things around the apartment.

See - no drilling, no holes, no mess. When I tell you that guests visiting me are surprised when I tell them these photos are stuck on a thermocol sheet, they are even more surprised when I tell them it costed me ZERO dollars to make these photo canvases!

Did you like this DIY idea?  Please share it on social media with your network of friends!  Are you fond of crafts and will make something like this?  Please share your photo with me too!  Are you living in a rental apartment or interested in frugal home decor ideas?  Try this simple decor idea using Styrofoam sheet and tell me how it goes!
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