25 DOC - Day 12 - Instax Love [tutorial]

This year I fell in love with the idea of polaroids all over again.  I had one as a teen and then again when I got married since I used it for my Guestbook.  I had 2 albums in the back of the hall with a polaroid and tons of film for guests to take photos of themselves, add it to the album with their note to us... a different sort of "Guest Book".  So I was very excited to find out about Fuji Instax Cameras earlier in the year.  I got mine in a cute pink Hello Kitty style, (naturally), and have been using it consistently since.

[sidebar: have you seen the adorable HELLO KITTY SMASHBOOKs at Michaels?!?? OMG THEY ARE SUPER CUTE!!!!  Along with the cute HK accessories.] 

Let's continue...

I first saw this "polaroid frame" idea at Summer CHA.  No I didn't go, but I saw photos on Instagram of Heidi Swapp and other popular craft companies using this Polaroid Frame idea to take photos.  I thought it was so clever and cute, that I had to replicate it for My Son's 2nd Birthday Party.

I made something similar, except it was in the shape of an instax frame, a lot thinner and longer.

I purchased the foam sheet at DEALS for $1.  I knew I wanted it to be used for my December Daily album (which you saw in 25 DOC - Day 10), but I wanted it to be interactive, where I can change the date on it... you'll see later what I mean.

So I got to brainstorming and came up with the perfect plan.  Since I had so many people ask me how I made that one for my son's party, I took photos (this time) of the process to share the steps with you all.  It's a super easy & fun project that you can use every year and for other occasions.  I hope you enjoy it and make it for your family & friends to have fun with.

This poster board measures 20x30.

Score & Cut Measurements:

3" wide on the top.

2" wide on both sides.

6" wide on the bottom.

Be careful when cutting through the foam that you don't damage your table.  

I use a wood board that came apart from my jetmax cube to protect my table.

Let's Decorate!!

I picked up several items from the dollar store and went through my old Christmas decorations as well.

These vinyl window clings are super cute, but won't cling to the foam.  

I glued them to thick cardstock and cut them out, 

so that they'd have a surface that can be hot glued without melting.

My husband thought it would be a great idea to have actual Christmas lights on the garland,
so we found some portable lights and batteries at the dollar store,
wrapped them around the garland and decorated the top of the jumbo instax frame.

The part that holds the brains and the batteries got hot glued very easily to the back sides of the frame.
Incidentally, I purchased 2 sets of lights so that the garland would be well lit.

The other battery pack is on the other side of the back of the frame.

Since I wanted this frame to be used also as a photo op for my December Daily album, 

I decided to incorporate interchangeable numbers.  

The only way I thought I could make this (without a die cut machine)
was to purchase black vinyl letters (68 cents each at Lowes),
and stick them to heavy cardstock.
This way I am able to reuse them as the days go by,
without having it stick to my frame.

P.S. You might need double 1s and 2s. (12/11 & 12/22) - Just sayin'.  hehe

I cut the numbers out from the cardstock and added half-cut velcro pieces to the tops of each one.
The fuzzy size was adhered to the number and the rough side was adhered to the red
Christmas tree on the frame.

You only need to adhere the fuzzy part to the numbers from here on out,
because the 2 rough pieces will stay glued to the frame.

I hope that makes sense.

When you interchange the numbers,
you can use "2" and "4" for Christmas Eve
and the rough base is ready for the fuzzy part to stick to it.

Make sense??  lol

Using black foam Thicker Alpha Stickers, 

I added the word "DECEMBER" using the number 3 backwards to form a capital "E" 

because I only had 2 small e's.  

Ghetto or Smart?  lol

I also added clusters of ornaments to the top of the frame over the garland with hot glue.

Here is a photo of the frame with the lights off.

Lights On!

The numbers can be removed and the date changed to whatever day you want to use the frame, OOOOOR, simply buy 2 numbers that represent Christmas Eve (24), Christmas Day (25) or the day of your office Holiday party (21).  Or, if you're like me, you'll get all the numbers and have them handy for a fun impromptu photo!

I hope this tutorial has been helpful.  Thanks for checking in today and see you back tomorrow for more Christmas creativity!

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