DIY Photo Backdrop

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Do you, like me, keep finding reasons to need a photo backdrop?  I went years and years without feeling the need for a one and now I could probably have one up in my house 24/7.    I love how much fun everyone has with their photos when a photo backdrop is up.
I did this DIY Photo Backdrop for our New Year’s Party and love how it came together.  Next year I really look forward to finding a larger section of wall for my DIY Photo Backdrop (this will probably require a wall in the basement and some additional lighting).
Here are a few tips and tricks we learned while putting together this particular DIY Photo Backdrop.  For the black/white background I used a roll of wrapping paper from Hobby Lobby, it’s a nice heavy wrapping paper and while we couldn’t match up the dots perfectly I felt like we got it pretty dang close.  My sister in law Leighann was helping me set up the backdrop and we were feeling pretty proud of ourselves as things were going together.  We used two very large sections of wrapping paper and did a lot of taping to keep it up.
Once we had the papers lined up we started hanging our party fans.  We used two sets of party fans and a banner we made from My Mind’s Eye.

Chalk Art Party Fans – Kraft Party Fans
We got everything hung and looking beautiful and were so happy with the results.  Then we sat down to finish the girl’s shirts for New Year’s and the unthinkable happened…
I’m so thankful that Leighann was here with me because if she wasn’t I would have probably torn the whole thing down and said forget it.  Together we laughed a LOT and got it back up.  We realized while hanging the backdrop back up that those party fans are DANG heavy when they’re all layered together and that was our problem.  So, with a bit more tape and a text to the guys asking them to bring home push pins we were back in business.  With the help of 5 strategically placed push pins the backdrop held through the night (and the next few days until I took it down).
I love how our photos from the night turned out.  This is just a small sampling of the few hundred photos we took that night, a selfie stick really added to some of the candid photos…so funny!  You should definitely have a photo backdrop at your next gathering, they’re great for birthday or any kind of party or even just a family gathering.
The one thing we were really missing this year was our party props, I didn’t realize I put the few I collected for last year into the box of my aunt’s photo backdrop supplies when I sent it back to her and by the time we realized we didn’t have any there were none left at the store, don’t make the same mistake because it really does make it even more fun.
Have you done a DIY Photo Backdrop?  I’d love to see what you came up with for yours!