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hey there! I'm monica 

I pride myself on making amazing style and design accessible for everyone, regardless of location, budget, or ability! My design philosophy is rooted in authenticity + attainability - If I can do it, you can too! My work has been featured in countless publications, but I take the most pride in homeowners that have been personally inspired by my DIY ideas and have tried something in their own homes!

learn more about ME + MY BIZ

Picture Holder DIY East Coast Creative

Hey guys! This is my little soapbox and I’m about to get on it. If you’re just interested in the wood block photo display  you can scroll down a bit to jump right into the tutorial.

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There are a few things that people say to me all the time… 1-“Wait, you have FOUR kids!?!” and 2- “You’re so CREATIVE. I wish I could be creative like you”  Well yes, the 4 kids thing still baffles me some days, but the second comment is one I want to chat about today.

Creativity is a kind of crazy thing.  We sometimes fall into the trap of thinking our creativity needs to look like someone else’s. I see this a lot with my kids.  Both of my girls are what people would generally refer to as “creative”- they make amazing things out of clay, they love to paint, draw, and do just about anything artsy fartsy.  Sometimes I can see that intimidating my boys.  We can all be working on a project and they’re constantly looking at their sisters’ work and using that as the standard for their own.  Now, comparison is a whole different topic (and a biggie at that), but I’m gonna save that for another day.  The thing is, my boys ARE creative, just in ways that are unique.  Cal and Kade like to build things.  They can assemble and design all kinds of things with blocks, Kinnex, Legos and honestly can build some pretty mean forts.  I tell them their buildings are super creative and they usually brush me off, because they only see creativity as traditionally expressed through art.

We need to put aside our traditional concept of creativity and recognize it as any original idea that has value.  The idea doesn’t even need to be unique to the world at large- just to you!

CREATIVITY

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I drafted this post a couple days ago, and then last night had the awesome experience of hearing my two favorite bloggers Elsie and Emma from A Beautiful Mess speak on this very topic of creativity.  I loved when Emma put it this way… “We all have problems right? (Umm yeah!) Whenever you find a solution to a problem, you’re being creative!” We just need to recognize and accept our own creativity. When we expect it to look like everyone else’s brand of creativity we’re going to be left feeling like ours doesn’t count.  So, when  Porch.com and Glazer’s Camera approached me and asked if I would be willing to share in their #wereallcreative campaign I immediately jumped on board! The sent me a Fuji Instax camera and asked me to take pictures of things that inspire me to be creative and then come up with a way to display my pics.  Super fun!

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And just to prove that you don’t have to be a blogger or TV host to be creative, I left the project portion up to one of my college interns.  We brainstormed together and then she used her own vision to create these cute wood block photo displays.  I love what Paige came up with!

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Supplies Needed for Wood Block Photo Holder:

Wood Blocks

Wire

Wood Stain

Paint

Painter’s Tape

Instax Mini Polaroid Camera (optional)

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1. Drill a small hole in the center of your wood blocks (we got ours at JoAnn) to hold the wire.  The size of your drill bit should be aligned with the gauge wire you use.  If it’s too large the wire won’t stand up right. We didn’t use any glue, but a dab in the hole might be a good idea.

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2. Next, it’s time to get creative with your wooden blocks. Paige played around with stain, painter’s tape and paint to achieve a few different looks for the blocks.  The Swiss cross design was cut free hand out of some vinyl, but you could easily grab a Google image as a template.

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3. While waiting for the stain and paint to dry Paige twisted the top of the wire into fun geometric shapes that would hold the Instax mini Polaroids.  Confession- I accidentally deleted the process pics for this… total blogger fail.  But, yet again proving you can be a bit of a dummy and still creative!  Paige found that using the edge of a table was an easy way to get nice, clean angles.

4.  Place the wire into your wood blocks and you have yourself a unique and creative photo display, easy peasy!  I sent some of these wood blocks with Paige and they’re now in her college dorm room (so fun!) and I have a few in my office.

Picture Holder DIY East Coast Creative

I’d love to know what inspires your creativity and/or how your creativity comes out!  

Tag me on Instagram @EastCoastCreative and use the #wereallcreative so I can see!  

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Thanks again to Porch.com and Glazer’s Camera for this awesomely encouraging campaign!

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The comments +

  1. Love this idea! Looks so cute yet is simple to make. I am thinking I need to make some! Thanks for the inspiration Monica

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