I started this project by purchasing 4"x6" frames from Ikea for $2 each. There are a total of 36 frames so it wasn't a cheap project but was the worth the money for a 5'x5' wall decor. When I got home with my new frames the first thing I did was lay them out on the floor to see my vision and to measure the overall dimensions.
In order to have a starting point to hang the collage we taped a square on the wall the same size of the overall dimensions. Then we made paper templates the same size of a frame to tape on the wall. We also made one horizontal and one veritcal template to lay-over each paper in order to mark the nail hole on each one after they were taped up to the wall. We started laying the templates out from the bottom working our way up as we went and making sure to level the templates out that were on the same line. In the end we ended up with a shorter overall height than we originally layed out on the floor but it is because we decided to put the frames closer together. Ultimately the collage ended up lower on the wall than we would have planned but it wasn't worth going through the hassle of rehanging all of the templates just to move it up six inches.
After we put all the nails in the wall I immediately tore down the paper. In retrospect I should have left them up and taken them down as I hung the pictures because I had to refer to my inspiration photo to know if the pictures should go horizontal or vertical. The good news is that we didn't have to make one single adjustment to our original layout as the frames fit like a glove! Believe it or not, taking the frames out of the packaging, removing the backing to insert the photos and hanging the photos was actually more time consuming then hanging the templates and pounding the nails.
If you decide to do this project make sure you have a handy-helper like I did!
