12 Beautiful Ways to Display Vintage Photographs

How to Display Vintage Photographs

Don’t be afraid to show off your vintage photos! There are loads of ways to display vintage photographs while keeping them safe–read on to see how.

Don't be afraid to show off your vintage photos! There are loads of ways to display vintage photographs while keeping them safe.

12 Ways to Display Vintage Photographs

1. Simply frame them. Especially if they’re black and white, often vintage photographs look their best simply mounted with photo corners into a plain frame. Use archivally-safe materials, of course!

2. Put them in a shadow boxThe benefit to this is that you can also display other little treasures and found objects.

3. Clip them to chicken wireTack the chicken wire to the back of a frame, mount the photos using photo corners to acid-free mat board, then clip the clothespins or photo clips to the mat board, not the photos.

4. Set it under a clocheYou can find those pretty cheap at garage sales now, often with a tacky clock inside. Snatch them up, set the clocks aside for other projects–all those clock parts!–and use them to keep the dust off of your real treasures.

5. Slip it inside a bottleI wouldn’t do this with your own favorite family photos, since you’ll have to curl and then uncurl it and thereby expose it to potential damage, but for your fun flea market finds? Feel free!

6. Display it behind a windowA window, especially a multi-paned one, makes for a lovely picture frame when cleaned up and mounted on the wall. Use photo corners to attach your photos directly to the glass.

7. Clip it to a chair backMat the photo and add glass to the front, then clip the entire set-up to the vintage chair back.

8. Hang it from a pants hangerUse the same set-up as with the chair back, but instead clip it into a wooden pants hanger.

9. Scrapbook itScrapbookers tend to want their creations to be archival in quality, so it’s easy to find acid-free scrapbook papers and embellishments.

10. Make a garlandYou can also pin other interesting old things, such as dried flowers or bits of lace, to the garland.

11. Put it in an old clockAnything that has a glass front–antique clock, a meter–can be emptied and cleaned out and repurposed as a photo frame. The bonus is that the picture is much safer from dust inside an old clock that it would be hanging from the wall.

12. Seal it inside a Mason jarYour photo is also safe and secure inside a Mason jar, and if you use a wide-mouthed jar, you don’t have to worry about curling it up, as you do with the bottles.

Avatar photo

Written by Julie Finn

I'm a writer, crafter, Zombie Preparedness Planner, and homeschooling momma of two kids who will hopefully someday transition into using their genius for good, not the evil machinations and mess-making in which they currently indulge. I'm interested in recycling and nature crafts, food security, STEM education, and the DIY lifestyle, however it's manifested--making myself some underwear out of T-shirts? Done it. Teaching myself guitar? Doing it right now.

Visit my blog Craft Knife for a peek at our very weird handmade homeschool life, and my etsy shop Pumpkin+Bear for a truly odd number of rainbow-themed beeswax pretties.

Comments (Keep It Civil...)

Ready to get your garden growing? Here are 10 DIY raised beds that anyone can build.

10 DIY Raised Beds You Can Build

Decoupage Alphabet Blocks

Artist Trading Blocks are a Thing, and I LOVE Them!