So I had an old calendar of Italy that I wanted to get rid of, but did not have the heart to throw away. So I came up with a great idea to upcycle my old calendar photos into new unique artwork for the home.

Step 1: Supplies

Here is what you will need to upcycle your old calendars

A calendar photo - This calendar photo was a night picture of the Colosseum.

Black and white vector drawing of calendar photo subject. - You will use this as a stencil to cut out your photo I found a vector drawing of the Colosseum online. Make sure the size of the vector drawing is the size you want the piece to be at the end

Cardstock - to be used as backing for piece

Exacto knife

picture frame

Step 2: Cut Out the Stencil

The first part you need to do is cut out the vector drawing so you can use it as a stencil on the real photo. For my stencil I had to cut out the black part of the piece, including cutting all the windows out. This will take a little time but it is worth the extra time in the end.

Step 3: Trace Your Stencil Onto the Drawing

When you have the whole thing cut out it is time to trace your stencil on the drawing

First center the stencil in the picture so you get all of the picture that you want.

Then trace the outside of the stencil onto the photo.

NOTE: I did not trace the whole stencil onto the picture yet. I wanted to make sure I didn't have any extra pencil markings on my piece after I finished cutting it out, so I waited to trace the windows until later.

Step 4: Cut Out Outline of the Design

After tracing the outline of the design, I cut out the outline.

Step 5: Flip Piece Over and Trace the Rest of the Stencil

Now that I had my basic shape I flipped the design over and traced the rest of the design on the back of the page. This kept all the markings on the back of the page and not seen on the front

Step 6: Cut Out the Rest of the Design

Use your exacto knife to cut out the rest of the design. Be careful when cutting. it is easy to have the exacto knife accidentally slip and end up ruining the whole piece.Take your time and it will be worth it.

Step 7: Glue Piece to Backing

When everything is cut out glue the finished piece to the backing.

Step 8: Frame

When your piece has been glued and dried, it is time to frame your new art piece. Be sure to trim the backing of the piece so it will fit into the frame if needed.

Now hang up your new art and enjoy!