ReadyMade: Instructions for everyday life

Issue 45
The Escapes Issue
Cook perfect pancakes
Build a modern rustic bench
Sew new life into a vintage dress
Check out the RM Photo Gallery

Home Made

Six Ways to Turn Family Mementos into Unforgettable Gifts

by Paul Schifino

3. Home Made

While sorting through some snapshots that had been languishing in a closet, I hit upon an idea to get them out in the open without buying a crate of little frames. My inspiration came from Charles and Ray Eames’s classic House of Cards, which fits together like a three-dimensional puzzle. I sketched an updated template, chose a dozen photos and old postcards that I’d been saving, and just started cutting and pasting. Before the evening was through, I had my very own “House of Memories” and was well on my way to making my holiday shopping list a memory, too.

    1. For this project, all of your photos and cards need to be the same size (4” x 6” or 5” x 7” work well). Make a photocopy of the template to match the size of your photos (enlarge or reduce as necessary—see caption).

    2. Use spray adhesive to paste the back of the template to a piece of card stock or a greeting card, and burnish with the back of a spoon.

    3. Then, using the knife and ruler, trim it out including the slots—they’re the most important part.

    4. Spray the back of one card or photo, then put it back to back with the other and burnish. Repeat with all of your photos and cards. Remember: Your combinations are a great opportunity for humor. Pair a Christmas card with a photo of Uncle Sal drunkenly talking to the tree—or an old school photo with a cereal box cutout.

    5. Place the template over the two-sided photo and trace the shape with a ballpoint pen. Then, using the X-acto and a ruler, trim it out. Repeat for all of the cards.

    6. Start building, or, if you’re sending the House as a gift, stack the cards, hold together with a thick rubber band where the slots line up, slip the stack into an envelope, and mail it off with tastefully printed instructions. As for those snapshots you can no longer bear to look at? You’ll need confetti for New Year’s Eve!

3-D Photo Puzzle

$5

ingredients

    • Old photos, vintage greeting cards, postcards, cereal boxes
    • Permanent spray adhesive

tools

    • Template (supplied below)
    • Scissors or X-acto knife
    • Ruler
    • Burnishing tool (a soup spoon works well)
    • Ballpoint pen