Good morning! I’m checking with the CC hivemind in case anyone knows any tips or suggestions. I want to set up a couple posterboards with displays of photos of my mom for a memorial lunch I’m putting together. Sort of like you see at wakes at funeral homes. I’m wondering if anyone has suggestions for how to stick make them stick, without ruining pictures or having them permanently glued on. Some are very old photos. (Also it’s next week so I’m under a time constraint.) Will probably have large boards and many randomly sized pictures. I’m not up to date on crafty stuff, so I am hoping someone here might have suggestions. Thanks in advance!
One possibility would be to scan them and print them so that you don’t have to worry about ruining the originals. Or I think we might have scanned them and then had a slide show running.
Glue dots or adhesive putty. Make sure it’s labeled as removable or non permanent. I’d also scan the older photos and print them on photo paper to make sure they don’t get damaged.
You could use picture clips/garland (see the pun there 
) Here are a couple examples but there are many configurations from lighted clips to collages, etc.
https://www.amazon.com/Love-KANKEI-Picture-Photo-Frame-Decor/dp/B01M3P1CXR/ref=sr_1_8
https://www.amazon.com/Picture-Hanging-Display-Decoration-LEJHOME/dp/B07LDQ59JR/ref=sr_1_19_sspa
I use photo corners that you can get at any craft store.
https://www.michaels.com/recollections-clear-photo-corners-250-ct/10202263.html?cm_mmc=PLASearch--google--MICH_Shopping_US_N_Papercraft_N_N_N_N--Papercraft&&cm_mmc=PLASearch--google--MICH_Shopping_US_N_Papercraft_N_N_N_N--Papercraft&gclid=CjwKCAjwiZnnBRBQEiwAcWKfYtoyFDhFh3p1RP6rcgTImGHs4GGmNQMqvLJNObnhlkcvHcyrLLrneRoC3ZIQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
They do not ruin the photo as no adhesive on the photos. Lay the boards flat, layout the photos and then add the corners. I have my sons and nephews do this for my father-in-law’s memorial sitting in the hotel courtyard as i couldn’t fly with the photo boards.
I was going to say photo corners, too. But I was ALSO going to say run to Kinko’s / Staples… and get them (or fragile ones) scanned. If there is a priceless picture that gets snagged or ripped the time/$$ costs will seem well worth it. They can also scan it to a thumb drive and you can mail that out, which people really appreciate.
We had scanned all Mom’s pictures and DH went out and got a digital projector just for her service. We had the slide show running while people came in and left it running while they came in for a lunch. It was fun to have people see themselves and I got a lot of requests for the pictures. We had a LONG time to prepare as she was in AL and memory care almost 5 year. You won’t have time for that, it is just FYI for future events.
I’m sorry, @garland. Went through this twice in short order and then again for SIL’s parents not long after. Two of them just this year for some cousins and going to one next weekend. I hope all goes well.
How do they scan the photos? If it is through a feeder, seems like that would be more potential for harm to the photo than photo corners or scanning at home.
Sorry for your loss Garland.
You can get adhesive putty at many places. Here’s one available at Rite Aid:
https://www.riteaid.com/shop/scotch-adhesive-putty-removable-2-oz-56-7-g-0341853
They can use a flatbed scanner.
We got cheap frames at the dollar store. Later, we kept some pix out for a while and donated the remainder of the frames to a thrift shop.
I would scan them all and put all the originals away. Mount the prints on large poster boards and display on easels, spaced out. It is easy to share the scan file with other family members, especially the family historian/ genealogist. . You can even make prints for family whom you know would like to have certain prints.
If you have a decent quality digital camera (maybe even your mobile phone), then that may be safe way to “scan” safely the old photos for printing as many copies as you want.
Scanning/digitizing may also increas the quality.
If you do not have time to scan, I would place the old, fragile photos in frames. You may find that there are a lot of photo frames at your mother’s house from pictures you have given her throughout the years.
Agree about photo corners. They are time-consuming, but will not harm photos. Photos may still fall out onto the floor.
If you have access to a flatbed scanner and time to play around, you will find that you can tweak the quality as @lookingforward commented.
Taking pics with digital camera can be tricky in terms of lighting/shadows. Flatbed scanner should be better. If the old photos are very fragile you likely will need to do something with them to preserve them (scanning is a good option).
We did this for my mom’s funeral recently. My sister (who is crafty/artsy) glued 3 different colors of construction/craft paper to the boards (in a checkboard type pattern) before she attached the photos. And used glue dots to attached the pictures. That worked well.
Thank you everybody! A lot of good suggestions here! I will head to Staples with a better idea of what to look for now. Much appreciated! Thank you all also for the kind messages.
Painter’s tape. Make a little roll and use it as double-sided on the back. Earthquake gel would work too.
Museum putty. It works wonders
I have photo paper at home, so scanned originals and put them back in albums. I also spent time at Walgreens, where I used their machines cuz I wanted to change size or enhance a picture.
Having spent hours today just scratching the surface of the boxes of pictures around my house, I see I have a bigger project ahead of me this summer. But the immediate event is at least getting me started. albums would be so much easier than boxes with little order to them.