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If you want to make a creative photo display to hang on the wall, you may think about creating a photo collage. This is a set of photos placed at random on a wall hanging. You can buy collage frames that you simply have to put photos in, but those are not nearly as creative as the collages you can make on your own. Here is a brief guide that will show you how to make one of these works of art in all by yourself.

Materials Needed:

• Photo Paper
• Hodge Podge Sealant
• Glue Sticks
• Poster Frame (with cardboard backing)
• Decorative Accessories (stickers, glitter glue, stencils, etc.)

Step 1 – Print the Photos

Print off all the photos you are going to use in the collage. You may want these to have a theme of some sort, like pictures of your family or photos from a specific trip you made. You can print them off in whatever size you want, but make sure you have enough to cover the cardboard backing on your poster frame. Otherwise you will have blank spots that you will need to fill in with other images.

Step 2 – Arrange the Photos

Put the photos on the front of the frame backing. You can arrange them however you like, but the best collages are often the ones that look as random as they can be. Try to balance the collage in terms of colors, shapes, and picture layouts. You can choose to arrange your decorative items at this time as well, or you can wait until you have the photos secured.

Step 3 – Glue Down the Collage

Once you have everything where you want it to be, start gluing down your photos one by one. Use a glue stick to do this because that will keep the photos flat on the cardboard. Regular glue may cause the edges of your photos to bubble up. When you have all the photos glued down, you can do the same with the decorations you want to use.

Step 4 – Seal and Display

When everything is glued down, wipe on a thin layer of collage sealant to lock everything in place. I have found the best results with Hodge Podge collage glue, but you may like something else more. Seal up the photos and put everything in a frame. The all you have to do is hang up your new photo collage for everyone to see.

You may see Troy MICR toner and IBM toner cartridges as nothing more than office supplies, but they could serve a dual purpose for the creative minded among us. You can use ink cartridges as decorations for your office if you are willing to think outside of the box. Here are a few whacky ideas that may help you see your basic ink cartridges in a whole new way.

Light Fixtures

Believe it or not, you can buy light fixtures made out of old ink cartridges. These modern décor pieces are actually becoming quite popular because they are different and unexpected. You may not be able to wire something like this on your own, but you could buy one of the pre-made ones to put on display in your office. This could be the perfect lighting right above your copier toner or general office supplies.

Knick Knacks

If you get a cool shelf to display the cartridges on, you could actually use them like knick knacks to decorate a wall. You could put oversized paper clips and rolls of colored tape to fill the shelves as well, and then you will have your very own office supply art work. This is simple to put together, even if you aren’t the most artistic person in the world. Just make sure your display appears balanced, and you should be just fine.

Table Tops

You could use ink cartridges to create a top for desks, tables, and any other flat surface furniture you have. This will take a little extra work, but it could make a great display if you do it right. You will need to have some sort of vertical border around the desk top that you can fill with liquid glass. Put the ink cartridges and anything else you want within the border, and then pour on liquid glass to create a flat surface. This may cause the ink to bleed from the bottom of the cartridges, but that will create some interesting texture in the table top. Let the glass dry completely, and then you will have a custom desk that other people will adore.

Think outside the box the next time you see an ink cartridge and see what you can do with it.

If you need to design a large poster or wall mural, you may be able to do so with the use of transparency film. This is clear paper that you can print images on, and then you can use an overhead projector to enlarge the image onto a vertical surface. Doing this may be easier than you think. Here is a brief guide to help you turn a small image into a large poster or painting with the use of transparency film.

Gather Supplies

In order to put an image on a wall to trace or use for reference, you will need a computer, a printer, ink cartridges, transparency film, an overhead projector, and whatever tools you need to create your poster or painting. Make sure the printer and the computer work with one another, and then load your transparency film into the paper slot.

Print Your Image

Print your image off the computer just like you would anything else. Since you will mainly be referring to the hard lines for the image, you could print everything off in black and white. That would save you money on new printer ink, and it will not impact your project in a negative way.

Enlarge the Image

Point your overhead projector toward the wall you will be working on. If you want to paint directly on the wall, you can do that. Otherwise, you will need to put whatever material you need onto the wall so you can work on it. Put the transparency paper onto the face of the projector and enlarge it to your desire. This should allow you to see whatever you have on the transparency on the wall as well.

Trace the Image

Once you have the image in place, you can lightly trace it with pencil and color it in according to your needs. You may use paint, colored pencils, markers, or anything else you have on hand to make your poster or mural. It all depends on what you need to do. If you are having trouble keeping the transparency still as you trace, consider taping it down with a href=”http://www.inkcarts.com/transparent-tape.html”>transparent tape. You can pull off the transparency whenever you are done.

The rest of this project is up to your own creativity, but hopefully it has inspired a future project for you. Never underestimate the power of office supplies.

There are literally thousands of ink and toner cartridges on the market nowadays, and finding the right one for you may seem like a challenge. Your printer needs ink to produce documents though, so you have to find something that is going to be compatible with your printer. Here is a look at how you can go about finding ink for your printer.

Shop by Brand

One of the easiest ways to narrow down your ink cartridge options is to look for ink that is compatible to your specific printer. You can use an online ink finder to select the exact printer you have, and then you will be able to pick your ink based on whatever options come available. One form of ink may work for multiple printers, so don’t be surprised if you have two printers that use the same ink. This happens more often than you might think.

Shop by Color

When you have a set of ink cartridges to choose from, you can narrow your options down based on whatever you need – black or color ink. You can usually save money by buying the two ink cartridges together, but you can buy them individually if you do not need one of them. You may also have a printer that has several different kinds of colors to choose from, like cyan or magenta. You will have to refer to your printer for more information about what ink is right for you.

Shop for Soy

One great alternative to consider is soy printer ink. Soy ink is compatible with a variety of printers, and it produces just as many prints as traditional ink does. This product is more environmentally friendly, and most of the waste from its production is repurposed. If you’re an eco-activist looking for green printing solutions, this would be the option for you.

Shop in Bulk

If you know that you are going to use a large quantity of ink, do not be afraid to buy a big case of it. This is going to save you on the ink individually, and it is going to ensure that you have a healthy supply of cartridges whenever you need them. Buying larger cartridges is also an option to keep in mind, depending on your printing needs. You will have to do a little more research to find out what options you have with your printer.

If you run a business of any kind, you probably have to face a lot of shipping expenses every month. Even a simple letter can cost a great deal of money if you have to send it to all of your customers. Rather than shelling out hundreds of dollars a month in mailing expenses, you could use the tips below to reduce the cost of office supplies well into the future. Here are some suggestions to keep your shipping costs as low as possible.

Print Your Own Shipping Labels

You can always buy label paper to insert into your printer, and then you can print your shipping labels right from home. All of the major mail carriers in the country (UPS, FedEx, USPS, etc) offer discounted rates to those who print their own shipping labels, and doing so may save you from having to go to the shipping center. You can simply request the mail carrier pick up your packages from your home or office. You may need a scale to weigh your packages this way, but that will be the only major expense you will encounter.

Minimize Envelope Sizes

Avoid sending out large envelopes if you do not have to. These will weigh more than traditional envelopes, and they will thus cost more money to send out. If you can fit everything you need to say on a postcard, send that out instead. You will reduce your shipping costs significantly this way.

Pre-Print Your Envelopes

Rather than printing labels to put on your envelopes, you may be able to save money by printing directly on the envelopes. If you have the right printer and ink cartridges to get the job done, you can prepare a series of envelopes with your company return address on them. Then all you have to do is fill them with the content they need.

Move to Email

If you can send out emails and e-statements instead of traditional letters, you will reduce your mailing costs and paper waste significantly. The internet allows for instantaneous data transfer on a global scale, so all you have to do is setup a system to send the information you need to get to your customers. If you do that, you will cut your costs down tremendously.