Last Spring, I took photos for a DIY photo gift that my children presented to their Dad on Father's Day. Although my husband loved the gift, I was not completely satisfied with it and had been thinking about how I could improve upon it since. The two main things I did not care for were the small size of the photos and the quality of the photos, which I had printed on my own printer. The prints had come out a lot darker than the actual digital photos.
Since it had almost been a year since I had taken the photos for the original photo gift, I thought it would be a good idea to take new photos of the children holding the same letters, but a year older. This was the perfect excuse to revamp the photo gift into something with a larger scale and better photos. Instead of printing the photos myself this time, I used the Walgreens Photo service via the Walgreens Mobile App. It was super-easy to do. The app recognized the photos on our Android phone and I was able to order 5x7 prints of the 7 photos I needed for same day pickup. You can see more photos of the app in use here (and checkout how much I saved on my purchase using my Balance Rewards Card).
Today's Project: "Say It With Photos" DIY Photo Gift
SUPPLIES NEEDED
white 9"x11" foam sheets (1 per letter)
red wooden heart (or a red foam sheet)
scissors
5x7 photo frames (1 per letter)
5x7 photo prints (1 per letter)
Step 1. Using the white foam sheets and scissors, cut out the shape of each letter in the message you would like to spell out, trying to make your letters as large as possible.
Step 2. I used a red wooden heart I had purchased from the craft store. If you would like to include a heart in your message, you can either purchase one like I did or make one yourself out of a sheet of red foam.
Step 3. Take photos of your letters with the desired people or pets.
Step 4. Have good quality prints made of your photos.
Step 5. Insert each photo in its own photo frame.
That's it! You're done!! Now all you need to do is create a nice presentation. I did this by only using reversible wrapping paper and a peel and stick gift topper I had purchased at Walgreens when I picked up my prints, along with two colors of curling ribbon I already had on hand.
The reversible gift wrap was solid red on one side and red polka dots on white on the other side. I wrapped each photo frame individually and bundled them together in a stack.
After tying and curling the ribbon, I attached the peel and stick heart and folded the layers up at the creases to give it a 3-dimensional look.
Here we are! It was so easy to do and I love how the gift turned out (both inside and out).
How to make this project your own . . .
- If you are spelling out something short, like the word "DAD", you could easily use larger size photos for this project. How about 8x10s or even poster size?
- Rather than using people or pets in your photos, you could take photos of the letters in sentimental places.
- Wrap the gift in brown paper or newspaper. Then top it off with some lace and a sprig of flowers.
- Use a different style and color painted photo frame for each letter for an eclectic look.
If you happen to not have time to make a photo gift yourself, you'll be happy to know that you can order photo gifts, such as photo books, photo canvases, photo wall calendars, posters, and more, all for same day pickup. You do not even need to take brand new photos. Thanks to Walgreens Innovations, you can use the Walgreens Mobile App to order photo gifts using photos from your phone, Instagram, or Facebook. For great Valentine's Day gift ideas, look for the 14 Gifts of Love shared daily by the Walgreens Community on Facebook.
I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Walgreens #HappyHealthy #CBias #SocialFabric. All opinions expressed are my own.
