I Combine Ordinary Objects With Pics On My Phone To Make Them Look Extraordinary (16 New Pics)

Some people go to museums to see art. I go to my camera roll and the junk drawer.
Give me a cracked phone, a coffee cup, and a packet of ketchup, and I’ll give you a tiny blockbuster scene
that looks like it escaped from Bored Panda’s front page.

The idea of combining ordinary objects with pictures on a phone screen isn’t new, but it’s still wildly satisfying.
Photographers like Israeli art director Yahav Draizin have become internet-famous for lining up smartphone photos
with real-world backgrounds so seamlessly that you forget where the screen ends and reality begins.
The results are clever visual mashups that turn a boring street corner, a latte, or a cereal box into a mini movie set.

In this article, we’ll dive into how these “ordinary-to-extraordinary” phone photo mashups work,
why people love them so much, and how you can create your own series of 16 (or 160) imaginative pics using nothing
more than your smartphone and whatever happens to be lying around your house.

Meet the mind behind the mashups

The original Bored Panda series “I Combine Ordinary Objects With Pics On My Phone To Make Them Look Extraordinary”
features work by Yahav Draizin, a creative from Tel Aviv who runs an advertising agency called CRACKER TLV.
His approach is delightfully simple: he holds a phone in front of a real-life scene and matches a photo on the screen
with the background so they blend into one surreal image.

Draizin often uses characters and scenes from popular culture: movie stills, cartoons, music icons, classic ads.
He lines them up with real-world objectscups, windows, books, bottles, street signsso that the photo on the screen
finishes what reality has started. One half lives in the digital world, the other half is absolutely analog.

His images are famously “no Photoshop” affairs: they’re shot on location, with one or two phones, natural light,
and a lot of patience.
That constraint is part of the charm. You’re not looking at a heavily edited composite; you’re seeing almost
exactly what the artist saw through the lens, just with a very clever alignment of pixels and props.

How the illusion works: tiny tricks, big payoff

So what’s the secret sauce behind these extraordinary phone mashups? Technically, it’s pretty approachable.
Conceptually, it’s about seeing connections between images and objects that most people overlook.

1. Choosing the right base object

It all starts with an everyday object that has a clear shape or surface:
a coffee mug, a street lamp, a pair of sneakers, a faucet, a plant pot, or even a slice of pizza.
Photography guides that teach creative work with everyday objects stress that simple shapes and solid colors
usually work best, because they make the illusion easier to read.

Think of your object as a “stage.” The phone screen is just the actor stepping onto it.

2. Matching the phone image to the real scene

Next comes the hardestand most funpart: finding or shooting the right image to display on your phone.
The image needs to echo something about the real-life object:

• A phone photo of a waterfall lining up perfectly with water coming out of a showerhead.
• A vintage movie kiss matching two people almost embracing on a park bench.
• A cartoon character “sitting” on the rim of your coffee cup, legs dangling over the foam.

Many artists keep folders of screenshots, posters, and portraits on their phones so they can try different combos
on the fly. It’s like carrying a whole casting agency in your pocket.

3. Getting the perspective just right

The magic happens when the perspective is spot on. You tilt the phone, step back, lean forward, kneel on the sidewalk,
squint one eyewhatever it takes to line up the photo edges with the real-world surroundings.
Mobile photography tutorials often emphasize this dance between camera position and subject distance
as the key to convincing illusions.

In many of Draizin’s shots, the phone is angled just slightly, so the edges of the screen echo the lines of buildings,
table edges, or horizons. That subtle alignment tells the brain, “Yes, this belongs in the scene.”

4. Using natural light and minimal editing

Most of these mashups rely on natural or simple ambient lighting.
Professionals who teach smartphone photography stress that daylight makes colors on the phone screen pop
while also keeping the surrounding scene flattering and believable.
Heavy editing would break the illusion, so the best projects keep adjustments to a minimum:
a tiny tweak to exposure or contrast at most.

16 imaginative mashup ideas inspired by the series

If you’re craving inspiration for your own “16 New Pics” set, here are concept ideas in the spirit of the Bored Panda
seriesplayful, nostalgic, and very screenshot-friendly:

1. Coffee Cup Galaxy: A swirling galaxy image on your phone lined up so it becomes the “coffee” inside a plain white mug.
2. Streetlamp Moon: The phone displays a full moon that perfectly replaces the top of a streetlamp at night.
3. Vinyl Donut: A donut photo merges with a real record player so your favorite pastry becomes a spinning vinyl record.
4. Waterfall Faucet: A waterfall wallpaper aligns with water flowing from your kitchen faucet, turning dishes into a nature documentary.
5. Cartoon Bath: A cartoon character soaking in a tub sits inside your bathroom sink, courtesy of strategic phone placement.
6. Book Portal: A fantasy landscape appears to spill out of an open paperback book resting beside your phone.
7. Ice Cream Volcano: A screenshot of erupting lava lines up with a scoop of vanilla, so your cone suddenly looks dangerously active.
8. Skyline Sneakers: A city skyline sits exactly where the soles of your sneakers would be, turning them into “walkable cities.”
9. Glass of Sunset: Your phone shows a sunset horizon while you hold it behind a clear glass, pouring in actual orange juice.
10. Headphone Halo: A glowing halo from an illustration sits right above a pair of headphones hanging on a hook.
11. Cereal Box Superhero: A superhero pose replaces the face on a cereal box mascot, giving breakfast some attitude.
12. Plant Monster: A cartoon monster’s mouth is aligned with the leaves of a potted plant so it looks like it’s devouring greenery.
13. Car Wash Wave: A massive ocean wave image meets the spray in a DIY driveway car wash.
14. Microphone Meteor Shower: A pop star poster glows on your phone while a desk lamp behind it becomes the “stage spotlight.”
15. Umbrella Rain Cloud: A cartoon storm cloud appears on your phone above a real umbrella leaning by the door.
16. Bedtime Playlist Hug: An illustration of someone hugging a cassette player lines up with your real headphones on the pillow.

You don’t have to copy any specific artist to join the trend. The goal is to treat your phone screen like a teleportation portal:
one tap and your living room becomes a movie set, a comic panel, or a music video.

Why ordinary-object phone art goes viral

Bored Panda readers adore this genre for a few reasons:

Relatable objects, surprising twist

Everyone has mugs, shoes, books, plants, and street corners. Seeing those things transformed into something fantastical
makes people feel like, “Hey, I could do that with my own stuff.” It’s creativity without the gatekeeping of expensive gear.

A hit of nostalgia and pop culture

Many of the mashups borrow from pop cultureclassic movies, cartoons, album art, or memes.
Other artists working in surreal everyday-object mashups use similar tactics, combining familiar objects with playful,
nostalgic references that trigger memory and emotion.
That “I remember that!” feeling helps images spread fast on social media.

Easy to share, easy to remix

These photos are made for the internet: vertical-friendly, bright, witty, and instantly understandable.
Other Bored Panda features on photo mashups, macro shots of household items, and surreal collages show how strongly
the community responds to clever everyday imagery.
Your followers don’t need a long explanationthey get the joke in half a second and smash the share button.

How to create your own “ordinary to extraordinary” series

Ready to try this at home? You don’t need studio lights or a high-end camera; a smartphone is both your tool and your co-star.
Here’s a simple workflow you can follow.

Step 1: Build a mini “casting folder” on your phone

Create an album just for mashup-friendly pictures: movie stills, vintage posters,
drawings you’ve made, screenshots from royalty-free collections, or your own portraits and selfies.
Curate images that have clear shapes, strong silhouettes, and clean edges.

Step 2: Go on an object scavenger hunt

Walk around your home, office, or neighborhood and look for:

• Flat surfaces where the phone can line up cleanly (tables, steps, window sills).
• Objects with interesting outlines (lamps, bottles, tools, plants).
• Places with good natural lightnear windows, open doorways, or outdoors.

Many phone-photography tutorials recommend using side light or gentle backlight to make your subject more dramatic
without blowing out the details on your screen.

Step 3: Align, adjust, and shoot (no Photoshop required)

Hold the phone with the chosen image facing the camera and begin the positioning dance:
move closer, pull back, tilt the screen, and experiment with different angles until the border of the phone
seems to disappear into the scene. Don’t be afraid to take 20 or 30 test shots.

Once you get a promising frame, take a few extra shots with tiny adjustments.
Often, the best illusion is hiding just one inch to the left of your first attempt.

Step 4: Do light finishing touches

Basic phone editing toolsexposure, contrast, white balance, and a light sharpening passare usually enough.
Creators who specialize in smartphone art often warn that heavy filters or HDR effects can make the phone screen
look obviously separate from the rest of the image.

Step 5: Curate your 16 best shots

Not every idea is a winner, and that’s okay. Aim for a coherent series of 16 images that share:

• A consistent mood or color palette (bright and playful, dark and cinematic, pastel and dreamy).
• Recurring themes (music, coffee, travel, pets, books).
• A mix of close-ups and wider scenes so your audience doesn’t get visual fatigue.

Once you have your 16 favorites, you’re ready for your own “new pics” dropwhether that’s on Instagram, Reddit,
a personal portfolio, or, who knows, maybe even Bored Panda itself.

My personal experience experimenting with this style

When I started combining ordinary objects with pics on my phone, I assumed it would be a one-evening experiment.
Instead, it became a full-on hobby that changed how I look at my environmentkind of like switching on a secret
“Easter egg” layer over real life.

At first, my mashups were… let’s be polite and say “enthusiastically terrible.”
My phone screen was blowing out in the sun, the angles didn’t line up, and my coffee mug “galaxy” just looked like
I’d placed a random space wallpaper behind a cup. But after a few rounds of trial and error,
I started to understand the small details that make a big difference:
turning the screen brightness up or down depending on the light,
moving the phone closer to the object, and paying attention to how lines and edges met.

One of my favorite early successes came from pure laziness.
I was lying in bed, scrolling through music, and noticed an old album cover with a person lying down wearing headphones.
My real-life headphones were tangled on the pillow next to me, so I propped the phone against the pillow so the illustrated
head lined up with the real headphones. Suddenly, it looked like the character had slid out of the album
and into my bed, ready to listen along with me. I snapped a photo, posted it,
and it quickly got more likes than pictures I’d carefully staged for hours.

Another time, I brought my “phone mashup brain” on a coffee shop trip.
I had an image on my phone of a mountain climber dangling from a cliff.
The barista set down a cup with a dramatic swirl of foam and a drip rolling down the side.
I held my phone so the climber’s rope lined up with the drip, making it look like they were rappelling
down the side of a cappuccino canyon. The table of strangers next to me watched the whole process,
and instead of backing away slowly (my fear), they leaned in and started pitching me new ideas:
“Can you make it look like the muffin is a meteor?” Honestly, that spontaneous collaboration might have been
my favorite part.

What surprised me most was how this simple creative habit improved my overall photography.
Because I was constantly looking for ways to blend screen images with real objects,
I became much more aware of composition: where lines intersected,
how foreground and background interacted, and where light was coming from.
It was like a game level that trains you without you realizing you’re in a tutorial.
And the best part? I wasn’t doing it for a client or a gradeI was doing it for fun.

There’s also something oddly grounding about making art with the most ordinary objects.
We usually think we need something newnew gear, new locations, new propsto be creative.
But here, the whole point is to reimagine what you already own: that chipped mug, that messy bookshelf,
the plant that’s valiantly trying not to die. When you successfully turn a pile of laundry into a “mountain range”
by aligning it with a hiking photo on your phone, you suddenly realize that creativity isn’t about resources,
it’s about attention.

If you decide to start your own “I combine ordinary objects with pics on my phone” journey,
expect three side effects: your camera roll will be chaos, your friends will occasionally roll their eyes while
secretly loving it, and you’ll never look at a boring object the same way again.
You might think you’re just making a few funny photos, but really, you’re training yourself to see the extraordinary
hiding in plain sight.

Conclusion: Your phone is more than a screenit’s a portal

The appeal of projects like “I Combine Ordinary Objects With Pics On My Phone To Make Them Look Extraordinary (16 New Pics)”
comes down to something simple and joyful: they invite us to see our world with fresh eyes.
With a smartphone, a handful of everyday objects, and a little imagination,
you can create illusions that feel magical, funny, nostalgic, or just wonderfully weird.

Whether you’re channeling the spirit of Bored Panda features, drawing inspiration from other surreal everyday-object artists,
or inventing your own visual language, you’re joining a playful global conversation about creativity in the age of phones.
So charge your battery, open your camera roll, and start lining up those screens with reality.
Your next extraordinary photo is probably hiding in the most ordinary place you can think of.