So, you want to have a photo booth at your party, but you don't want to spend something like
$300? Me too. So, here's what I did! First, I identified elements that I wanted in my photo booth: an oversized frame, fake mustaches, and costumy props. Then, I began my hunt. First up, an oversized frame. I knew that my best bet was a thrift store, and that I would probably have to buy the artwork within the frame. After a few strikeouts (some shops apparently still ascribed value to the artwork displayed in the frame, which I viewed as a byproduct), I found my gem:
Ugly, no? And super discolored, as I discovered when disassembling it. But here's the draw of this baby, besides its lovely hugeness:
Ya can't beat that, let me tell you! After I took out (and tossed) the old artwork and its accompanying rusty staples and hang wire, my dad took over painting the frame. He primed it first, since it was originally covered in a flaky finish, then painted it a flat black -
voilà, it was exactly what I wanted!
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| Clipping and stripping the wire |
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| Tugging out a million rusty staples |
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| Painting first coat |
Note: I used wrapping paper as a background for my photobooth, since I didn't want to purchase fabric (which can be expensive and not as reusable). It worked, but it was a little touch-and-go. Not sure if I would do it again, so I won't really go into how I set it up (and then improvised, and then
made it work lol).
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| All done (the animals will be another post)! Also - do you spy my parents' color-themed pup? :) |
While I was securing my frame at Goodwill, I stumbled upon a fedora that was only $1, so it came home with me, too! Mom and I scoured it out with disinfectant, and at her suggestion, I spray painted it to better match the black-and-white theme. It was a little... crunchy, but that was no big deal (it's only one night, and one photo, really). I paired it with a black feather boa at the party (leftover from this year's flapper Halloween costume).
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| All disinfected and awaiting spray paint! |
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| Original color |
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| Finished product (with feather accent tucked back in) |
I also wanted a mask on a stick to go along with my mustaches - I picked out a decorate-yourself mask at Michaels for $3 (a bit of a splurge, haha), and my mom found a sheet of scrapbook paper that looked like netting. She trimmed it out, mod-podged it onto the mask, and then used glitter glue to outline the edges in sparkly silver. And that feather trimmed with black sequins? Yeah, it was also made with materials that we already had on hand. I told you, crafting and hoarding are like cousins.
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| Mask in progress! |
The finished product! We attached the mask, along with mustaches made simply from black cardstock, to miniature dowel rods that my dad picked up from work. I displayed them in an upcycled Prego pasta sauce jar (it had a narrower mouth than Mason jars typically do).
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| The display at the party! |
So, for roughly $10 (and that's rounding up!), I was able to create my own version of a photo booth! I just left my camera on the table next to the display for folks to take pictures with, then I 'developed' them in black and white, like the one below of me and Kathryn!
