Family pictures

Its been forever since we had our family pictures taken so its about time I got them up! I was going back and forth on ordering canvas' but after showing Juan the way I wanted it and the hefty price tag of $250, that didnt make him very happy. So I scratched thar idea and thankfully so! I was then on the search for what I could do next. I remebered seeing a friend had made a picture look like a canvas using wood. So I used his ideas and incorporated some others to make an awesome replica of canvas. Lota heavier but wow they look awesome! I went to Lowes and got two sheets of particle board and had them cut out the sizes I wanted. I had found a layout on Pinterest that I liked so went with that. A 20"x20", 4-11x14, and 3-5x7" I was going out on a limb here hoping this would all come out. It worked out that I was cutting a friends hair a couple weeks ago and telling her what I wanted to do. I was looking for a photo texture creme to paint on top of the pictures. Come to find out the only places to get it is Utah, go figure, and online but they can't ship in winter. Well her parents were coming to visit from Utah that next week so she asked them to pick me up some! Yes!! I was so excited! So back to the start again. I had them cut out the big pieces and I did the 5x7's at home. Sanded the edges, and particle board is compressed wood, so the edges are not smooth. So I added a wood filler to every side then sanded it smooth again. 2 coats of black paint on the sides and the edges on the front. I used gorilla glue to put the pictures on. Then I used a squeegie thing that you clean windows to smooth out the picture( that I had printed at Costco) so I didn't get any bubbles. I let every step dry about a day. I then rolled on the texture creme with a foam roller. It dries to the texture of a canvas. And that's it! Its not as easy as ordering a canvas, but for about $50 I have exactly what I want! And more to make more if I want!