Inspired by projects we'd seen for sale by artists in little markets about town, my wife and I decided to try out different ways of displaying photos. So, this week, I made a few things.
This one is an 8x10 on a piece of wood. I used the process here, with decent results, to show off the front of our house and a picture taken the day we moved in. I'd say the ironing takes longer than 2 minutes, and the paper has to be peeled away slowly.
These are coasters, made out of a common 4x4 tile. The article has some easy to follow instructions, but I found using photo paper (glossy) instead of just regular paper was the way to go. Anyway, read about it here if you want to make your own.
Finally, the thing I wanted to do the whole time -- transfer color photos onto wood with full visibility. It went okay -- the picture of my wife's childhood home came out great. The others were much more difficult since rubbing the paper fibers is a delicate process, causing a massive gouge in the shot of Michigan Central Station. For the tree, well, it honestly looks better that way. Laser printing photos for this is a must, but I did it at Staples (3 on one page, $0.99) and made sure it was on a light stock. Anyway, the colorfully-written how-to guided me quite well.
I will probably use all of these methods again, especially the last one. I'll keep you updated on anything else I end up doing with the printing process.