• Home
  • Project Gallery
  • About me
    • Disclosure
    • Disclaimer
  • Blog

Her Tool Belt

DIY furniture plans, crafts, and home improvement tutorials to empower you!

  • Free Woodworking Plans
    • Bathroom Furniture
    • Bedroom Furniture
    • Entry
    • Family Room Furniture
    • Garage
    • Kitchen furniture
    • Laundry Room
    • Mudroom Furniture
    • Organization
    • Outdoor Furniture
  • Home Decor
    • Upcycle
  • Crafts
    • Holiday
  • Home Improvement
    • Cleaning
    • Fix IT
    • Paint
    • Tile
  • Tool Reviews
  • Tool Time Videos

DIY photo backdrops

February 26, 2014 by Amy 2 Comments

DIY Rustic photo backdropI love the granite in my kitchen.  I think that it’s called Typhoon Bordeaux, it has these beautiful rusty-red and charcoal swirls all through out a creamy base.  But one thing that I’ve learned about my granite, is that it is a TERRIBLE backdrop for photos!  It is very evident with my Simple Circuit photo, are there even wires in that picture? It’s like camo 🙂

I have noticed on Pinterest all of the beautiful photos that lure you in, have great backdrops.  I  recently attended my first Blog Conference BYB hosted by the Six Sister’s.  One of the classes that I attended was presented by Kristen Duke Photography.  She mentioned that you need to be careful not to ‘date’ your photos with your background, unless you are trying to for a holiday.  She said neutral backgrounds are best.  I have been wanting a rustic backdrop for a while.  I thought it would be fun to incorporate a subtle herringbone pattern for visual interest.  So let’s get building.  (BTW the cookies in this picture are the most delicious sugar cookies ever.  They are the knock off Swig Cookie brought to us by Vintage Revivals.  These cookies are the new family favorite!)

Rustic Herringbone Photo Backdrop

Gather your wood.  Naturally weathered wood is fantastic for the rustic look, you can also try for a faux finish, but nothing compares to the real deal.  I used barn wood, but a nicely weathered pallet would be great too.  When working with weathered wood, be extra cautious to check for nails and foreign objects, you don’t want to hit that stuff with your saw blade.  Make sure to wear your safety glasses, you are more likely to have wood chips fly back at you with old wood.

planks of rustic woodCut your boards in 3″ strips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

herringbone piece dimNext we need to cut the angles to make the herringbone.  I used my table saw, but a miter saw will work just as well.  Make each herringbone piece 6″ long (as shown).  You’ll want length as similar as possible.

 

cut at 60 degSet the angle to 60 degrees and cut 12 pieces.

Now switch to the 60 deg on the other side and cut 12 more pieces.  Note:  I wanted to use a certain face of my wood, if it doesn’t matter which face is showing, then you don’t need to switch your 60 deg.  You can flip your cut pieces.

herringbone seperatedIf you want, you can cut 3 triangles to fill in the peak area.  The triangles are cut at 30 degrees.

Next we need 5 pieces of scrap board that is about 1 1/2″ wide x 23″ long and 3/4″ thick.  These will be the support pieces that we glue and nail the herringbone pieces to.

 

place herringbone on supportsLine up the support boards such that the herringbone pieces meet in the center of the boards, except the edges should cover the whole board.

 

 

glue and nail togetherRun a bead of glue on the support board and glue the herringbone pieces to the supports.  Use a brad nailer (this is a cheap-o one from Harbor Freight and works great).  Nail the herringbone pieces in two places on each end with at least 1″ nails 1 1/4″ would be a little better.

Allow the glue to dry.

back of herringbone backboardThen you can trim off any extra material with your table saw.  If you make a nice flush edge, the backdrop should stand up for you pretty well.

 

 

 

Rustic Plank Photo Backdrop

rustic plank photo backdropCut your boards in 3″ strips.  Cut 7 or 8 pieces that are 24″ long.  Next you’ll need 3 pieces of scrap wood that is approx. 1″ wide x 24″ long x 3/4″ thick.  These 3 boards are the supports that you’ll use to assemble the planks.

back of rustic plank photo backdrop

 

 

Run a bead of glue on each support board and place and nail the planks onto the supports.  Allow the glue to dry.

Then you can trim off any extra material with your table saw.  If you make a nice flush edge, the backdrop should stand up well.

 

DIY photo backdrop setupThe fun thing about these photo backdrops is that you can interchange depending on what look you want for your pictures.  I plan on making a few more plank style photo backdrops that are white and dark brown, colors will be fun too.  If you don’t have scrap wood sitting around, you can buy the wood for really cheap.  Home Depot sells Furring Strips that are 3/4″ thick x 3″ or 4″ and 8′ long for $2.12 and $2.18 respectfully.  You need 2 furring strips to complete each backdrop.  That makes these babies less that $5 each, sweet and totally worth it.

Now I need to figure out how to use my DSLR, ha ha 🙂

photobooth

Related

Filed Under: Crafts, Free Woodworking Plans, Upcycle Tagged With: backdrop, background, barn wood, barnwood, DIY, photo, photo backdrop, photography, pictures, rustic

Attention: Any do-it-yourself project involves risk of some sort. Your tools, materials, and skills will vary, as will the conditions at your work site. Hertoolbelt LLC will not assume any responsibility or liability for damages or losses sustained or incurred in the course of your project or in the use of the item you create. Always follow the manufacturer's operating instructions in the use of tools, check and follow your local building codes, and observe all commonly accepted safety precautions.

Comments

  1. Megan Peterson 4 The Home Depot says

    May 2, 2014 at 9:52 am

    What a great project! I’ve added a link to one of our pinboards. Check them out at Pinterest.com/Homedepot

    Reply
  2. Jennifer says

    July 7, 2014 at 1:51 pm

    I love this idea for taking photos! I would love if you would share it on my meet up Monday blog party.
    http://jennymaire.blogspot.com/
    Jenny

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search Her Tool Belt

Follow Me!

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Top Posts & Pages

Custom Drill Storage and Charge Station - Easy
Wood Bunny Easter Basket
Cordless Drill Storage - Charging Station
Pallet Planter Box For Cascading Flowers
2x4 Console Table
$5 Blanket Ladder
King X Barn Door Farmhouse Bed Plans
Wood DIY LOVE Marquee Letters

Check out more projects

Copyright

Thank you for wanting to share my work! No need for my permission to pin my work or to feature 1 or 2 pictures with full watermarks intact that link back to the original project. Please do NOT copy tutorials.

Disclosure & Privacy Policy

Disclaimer

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT