Here's a project that I've been working on for a few months now and can finally share now that Christmas is over! This was my main Christmas gift for most of my family members. Although they were more time consuming than I initially thought, I really think the end product is worth it.
The first step was to walk around town and take lots and lots of pictures of letters and numbers(I suggest doing this before winter sets in! brrrr!) Make sure to find letters that are not touching any other letters (easier said than done!).
Next, I downloaded all of my photos, then put them into Picasa (a free program from google), cropped them to 4x6 and made them black and white.
Next, select all of the letters you need and the, click "collage" on the bottom of the screen. I made my collage 8x10, then added all of my letters onto the collage space. You can then resize and put your letters in any configuration you may want.
The last step is to save your collage and then get it printed on 8x10 photo paper. A few mattes and black frames later and you have yourself a beautiful piece of personalized art!