Mini Mount Photos and Art

I've always had this idea for a series of portraits... frameless photos, all mounted on a wall, in sort of a random pattern at different depths. I had this idea in my head for about two decades but never really did anything with it.

Recently, I've been using a professional printer who puts out very high quality products and I couldn't be happier with them. This printer has a wide variety of products, one of which is a product called Mini Mounts.

These Mini Mounts are a product printed on Fuji paper and mounted on wood with a black beveled edge. This product has a very clean look and I am very excited about how great these Mini Mounts look.

I ordered a series of 12 prints mounted on Mini Mounts about a month ago and finally mounted them on the wall in our new bedroom this morning (I was waiting to finish the bedroom). As any series of photos should, this series of photos has a theme.... in this case, 'The Lake House'.

In order to hang these Mini Mounts at different depths as I had originally imagined, I needed to create my own system of hanging these prints.

I chose keep things as simple as possible by simply cutting scrap plywood of varying thicknesses... 1/4", 1/2" and 3/4"... into 3"x3" squares so I could glue them onto the back of each Mini Mount. Before mounting, however, I spray painted all the edges black so they would not be seen. These plywood spacers are so small that it makes them almost impossible to see while they are mounted on the wall... they simply push each print away from the wall like a spacer would... some photos are a 1/4" away from the wall... some are 1/2" away from the wall... and some are 3/4" away from the wall.

Using my table saw, I cut a notch into each of these 3"x3" pieces of plywood to have a way to hang each photo on a nail. A simple yet effective solution.

If I had to do it over, I would change two things...

The first thing I would change is the type of glue I used. I glued these plywood spacers onto the back of each Mini Mount using Gorilla glue not realizing that Gorilla glue expands three to four times its original volume as it dries. This caused some problems which required some fussing to keep the plywood spacers flat and in place as the glue dried. In the future, I would choose a different glue... perhaps a contact cement.

The second thing I would change is the size of each of these plywood backer spacers. 3"x3" is a bit too small for these 5"x7" prints. I think 3"x4" would have been more effective. Maybe even a bit larger than that on each side. A larger backer spacer makes it easier for the Mini Mount to remain flat against the wall. This 3"x3" size seems to be working thus far but I already know I would prefer a bit larger for more stability.

Next time... I'd like to add some 8"x10" mounted prints into the mix for some added interest and a bit more variety... this is a really great idea and I have to say it looks beautiful with the right photos!