First, an apology. A few weeks back I promised a post on “one of the easiest, cheapest, most thoughtful photography gift ideas you've ever seen, just in time to DIY for Christmas.“ I was thinking of those of you who like to have your gifts selected, purchased and sometimes even wrapped before November is out. Time got away from me and here we are on Christmas Eve. But that’s ok. One of the best things about this gift idea is that it takes next to no time to make, perfect for those of you who found this page by googling “last minute Christmas gift ideas, help, arrrghhh”.
So, what’s the simplest way to free your photographs from your computer? Print them out and put them in a frame, obviously. By gifting a photograph you’re gifting a memory. It’s a thoughtful yet affordable, personalised present that can be made in minutes. A photo straight out of camera is a lovely gift, but here are a couple of ideas for turning them into a piece of art.
Shattered photo Print your photo. Cut it into shapes (squares, triangles, regular, irregular… whatever suits the mood of the picture). Using complimentary paper as a base, glue the pieces back down in the right order, but leaving a small gap between the pieces. Frame your masterpiece! If you’re feeling particularly creative you could use this technique to merge two photos. A landscape scene in different seasons would look great with this effect.
Personalised poster print I was looking for a birthday present for my friend, Helen, and was inspired by this motivational poster on Pinterest. How cool would it be to give a motivational quote on a beautiful background, only using a photo that would mean something to Helen? I browsed Pinterest for quotes and found one perfect for her. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing – Helen Keller. I have a photo of my friend climbing a pole at the seaside so I picked this as the background. My plan was to use Photoshop Elements to add the text from the quote in different fonts, but then I discovered that the Rhonna Designs app has wordart of this exact phrase, already beautifully designed. Open the app, choose your picture, select some wordart, save and print – job done!
Craft punch collage Back in October my husband’s aunt arranged a big family get together. I wanted to make a ‘Thank You’ gift that would remind her of the event. Around the same time I discovered these digital scrapbook supplies from Paislee Press, sized to fit perfectly in a round 1.5 inch craft punch. This sparked an idea. I searched my photos for pictures of the family members who would be attending, printed at home and used my craft punch to create circular portraits of each of us. (If you don’t have a craft punch you could cut using ordinary scissors and a paper template.) I arranged 8 photos and 1 Paislee Press ‘family’ tag into a 3x3 grid and used glue-dots to stick the circles down. Simple but very effective. This technique would also work well with hearts, stars, butterflies… any craft punch shape and you could even intersperse with patterned paper if you have some spare spots in your grid.
So, three quick, simple ideas for last minute photo-themed Christmas gifts! Wishing you all a merry and peaceful festive season! Naomi x
